Major disruption between Luton and London St Pancras International expected until 20:00 

Route(s) affected

East Midlands Railway between Sheffield / Nottingham / Corby and London St Pancras International

Thameslink between Bedford and East Croydon, and also between Luton and Rainham (Kent)

Description

A fault with the signalling system at St Albans City means trains running between Luton and London St Pancras International may be severely delayed by up to 60 minutes or revised.

Major disruption is expected until 20:00.

A visual disruption map video is available.

East Midlands Railway customer advice:

Trains running through the area will be delayed by up to 60 minutes between Luton and London St Pancras International in both directions. Some services will be altered.

Trains are being manually sent through the affected area which is causing congestion.

Trains are likely to experience extended delays or alterations. You can use your original ticket at no extra cost to travel with the following train operators:

• Cross Country between Sheffield - Derby in both directions

• Northern between Sheffield - Chesterfield in both directions

• Thameslink between Bedford - London St Pancras International in both directions

East Midlands Railway Intercity services will stop additionally at Wellingborough and Bedford where possible.

Bus replacement shuttle service will run between Corby and Kettering in both directions.

If your train service is altered or cancelled, your original ticket will be valid on the next available service.

Thameslink customer advice:

Cable theft near St Albans City has led to a major signalling problem.

This is causing severe disruption to trains travelling through the area.

It is expected that your journey will take at least 60 minutes longer than usual.

The following Thameslink routes will be affected:

Bedford - East Croydon:

Trains on this route will be severely delayed, and some will be converted to run as all-stations stopping services between Bedford and London Blackfriars, in both directions.

Where trains are amended in this way, it means they will not serve the part of the route between London Blackfriars and East Croydon.

Luton - Rainham:

Trains on this route have been severely delayed, and Thameslink will now be working to run a shuttle train service between Dartford and Rainham, in both directions.

Alternative Southeastern services will run between Central London and Dartford, as well as further options shown below.

St Albans City - Sutton

Most trains will still be cancelled, but Thameslink are now working to run a small number of services on this route.

Please use alternative public transport routes to complete your journey if there is a long wait until the next train. Alternative journey options are shown below.

Alternative journey options:

If there is an alternative route for your journey, and there's a long wait until the next train, you may wish to consider using this.

Your Thameslink ticket will be accepted at no extra cost on the following routes:

North of London:

• East Midlands Railway services between Bedford, Luton, Luton Airport Parkway and London St Pancras International, where available

• London Buses serving stations between the Elstree area and Central London

• Uno Buses on the following routes:

  • 602 between Hatfield, St Albans City and Radlett

  • 610 between Luton, Harpenden and Hatfield

  • 653 between Welwyn Garden City, Hatfield and St Albans City

• Arriva buses on the following routes:

  • 100 / 101 between Hitchin, Stevenage, Luton and Luton Airport Parkway

  • 301 between Stevenage, Knebworth, Welwyn North (Town), Welwyn Garden City, Hatfield, and St Albans City

  • 302 between Welwyn Garden City, Hatfield and St Albans City

  • 724 between Welwyn Garden City, Hatfield, St Albans City, Hertford North, and also on to Watford Junction

• Connecting Great Northern and Thameslink services on any reasonable route via Hitchin, Stevenage and Welwyn Garden City, to / from London
  

Across Central London and the South London area:

• London Underground services on any reasonable route across the London area

• Elizabeth line services between Farringdon and Abbey Wood

• Southern services between Central London and East Croydon

• South Western Railway services between London Waterloo and Wimbledon

• Docklands Light Railway services between Central London and the Greenwich or Woolwich areas

• London Trams between Wimbledon, Mitcham Junction, West Croydon and East Croydon

• London Buses serving stations between London and the Wimbledon, Sutton, Dartford and East Croydon areas
  

Kent area:

• Southeastern services between Central London, Dartford and Rainham (except High Speed services between London St Pancras International and Gravesend)

Luton Airport journeys:

This incident is causing major disruption to trains via Luton Airport Parkway. If you are connecting with a flight from Luton Airport, please leave plenty of extra time for your journey.

If you're waiting on a train which is delayed between stations:

If your train is delayed between stations, please stay on board and listen for updates. You can also ask staff if you need more information.

For your safety, please don’t leave the train unless instructed. Other trains may still be running, and the tracks can be very dangerous.

Planning your journey:

You can see the live departure boards, and view a live map of the network.

You can also view 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.

You can use the Thameslink app to find up-to-date information.

Can you tell me more about the incident?

Trains are being stopped at red signals in each direction just south of St Albans City, and drivers are being given verbal instructions to continue through an area with signalling problems.

This process takes extra time, and is leading to significant congestion and service changes.

Network Rail response staff are on site, and have discovered that cable theft has caused this issue. They are working to fix the damage as quickly as possible, and we are monitoring progress updates.

Check before you travel:

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

For helpful advice if you need to travel on a rail replacement service, including accessibility and bicycle information, please use our Rail Replacement Services page.

You can find the pick-up and set-down location of rail replacement services by checking station signage or by searching for your station on our Find a Station page.

Please be advised that replacement vehicles may be busier than usual, and you should allow extra time for your journey.

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.