Lines reopened: disruption between Gatwick Airport and Redhill / East Croydon expected until 10:30 

Route(s) affected

Gatwick Express between Brighton and London Victoria

Great Western Railway between Gatwick Airport and Reading

Southern between Ore / Eastbourne / Littlehampton / Portsmouth Harbour / Bognor Regis and London Victoria

Thameslink between Brighton and Cambridge, between Three Bridges and Bedford, and also between Horsham and Peterborough

Description

Lines have now reopened following a fault with the signalling system between Gatwick Airport and Purley. However, whilst service recovers, trains running between Gatwick Airport and Redhill / East Croydon may be delayed by up to 25 minutes, cancelled or revised.

Disruption is expected until 10:30.

Gatwick Express, Southern and Thameslink customer advice:

Trains can now run between Gatwick Airport and Purley again. You can now travel on your booked route.

Work is being done to return to a scheduled timetable, but please continue to check journey planners and station information boards before you travel.

Some trains in the area will still be disrupted, and your journey may take up to at least 30 minutes longer than usual.

Can I use my ticket with another operator?

You can travel on the following services at no additional cost;

• Southern services between Gatwick Airport and London Victoria

• Thameslink services between Gatwick Airport and London Bridge

• Southeastern services between Tonbridge towards London terminals

• London Buses between Purley and London Terminals

• Metrobus route 400 between East Grinstead, Three Bridges, Crawley, Gatwick Airport, Horley, Salfords, Earlswood, Redhill, Nutfield, Godstone and Caterham

Planning your journey:

You can check your journey using the live departure boards, and you can view a live map of the network.

You can also see an alternative route guide.

If you're travelling in the London area, you can plan journeys on alternative routes by using the TfL Journey Planner.

The Southern and Thameslink apps will also help you plan your journey.

Can you tell me more about the incident?

A signalling fault known as "route locking" was causing disruption to your journey in this area.

This part of the network uses track circuits to detect the position of trains. These are electrical systems which monitor whether a train is on a section of track. Track circuits operate as part of the signalling system, which is designed to be "fail safe".

When a track circuit fails, the signalling system will interpret this as a train remaining in place, even though there may not be a train present at all, or the previous service may have long since left the area.

In the case of track circuits at junctions, this means the points cannot be moved, as there could still be a train present. As a result, the junction will become route locked. The junction will then only be able to be used for trains running on the route which was selected when the system failed.

Until the track circuit clears, it won't be possible for your train to pass the area as usual, and if the route is locked, it may mean your train cannot reach its normal destination. Because this type of fault can result in a queue of trains waiting to continue, even if your own route is open, there can still be disruption to your journey.

Network Rail staff will be attending as quickly as possible to resolve the fault and make sure all of the affected trains can move.

Check before you travel:

You can check your journey using the National Rail Enquiries real-time Journey Planner.

Compensation:

You may be entitled to compensation if you experience a delay in completing your journey today. Please keep your train ticket and make a note of your journey, as both will be required to support any claim.