Delays between Hitchin and Peterborough expected until 22:00 

Route(s) affected

Great Northern between London Kings Cross and Peterborough

Thameslink between Horsham / London Kings Cross and Peterborough

Description

A fault with the signalling system between Hitchin and Peterborough means that some lines are blocked. As a result, trains running between these stations may be delayed by up to 15 minutes.

This is expected until 22:00.

Customer advice:

You can travel on your normal route, but you will need to allow up to an additional 15 minutes to complete your journey.

Please talk to station staff, look at information boards or check your journey planner for the latest information.

Planning your journey with Thameslink:

For help planning your journey, check live departure boards, view a live network map or see alternative route guides.

Planning your journey with Great Northern:

For help planning your journey, check live departure boards, view a live network map or see alternative route guides.

If you’re travelling within London, you can use the TfL Journey Planner.

Stay up to date on the move with Thameslink's WhatsApp channel or Great Northern's WhatsApp channel. Live updates are available Monday to Friday, 07:00–21:00.

Can you tell me more about the incident?

Trains are likely to have some delays due to a fault with a signal in this area. In this case, the signal has been reported to be switching rapidly between different colours and not showing a steady indication to drivers. When this fault was first noticed, one of the drivers had to stop their trains to make sure the fault was correctly reported, which has caused some delays.

Now that this has been done, further trains have to stop at the preceding signal and gain verbal instructions to continue. Your journey will unfortunately take longer as a result.

Railway signals are designed to warn drivers that they have to stop because the system can't yet confirm that the route ahead is clear. In most places, the signalling system will show a green light, or aspect, when the track is clear for a long distance ahead, and drivers will then be shown one or two yellow lights to warn them when they are approaching a red signal. This means that they can anticipate the amount of braking that's required to stop before they reach another train or any form of problem on the line. In this case, as the signal isn't reliably showing the necessary indications to drivers, they'll need to take extra safety precautions to travel through the area.

The signalling system is maintained by Network Rail, and work is being done to diagnose the fault and make sure it is fixed as quickly as possible. Until this is done, the train service will be monitored and all will be done to keep to the timetable.

Check before you travel:

You can check your journey using the National Rail 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.