Disruption between London and Stevenage, and significant disruption to Great Northern and some Thameslink services until the end of the day  

Route(s) affected

Great Northern services between London Kings Cross and Letchworth Garden City / Cambridge / Ely / Peterborough / Kings Lynn, and also between Moorgate and Welwyn Garden City

LNER services between London Kings Cross and Lincoln / Bradford Forster Square / Hull / Leeds / Harrogate / York / Middlesbrough / Edinburgh / Aberdeen / Inverness

Thameslink services between Brighton and Cambridge, between Horsham and Peterborough and also between Sevenoaks and Welwyn Garden City

Description

Earlier this afternoon, a communication alarm was activated on a train between Welwyn Garden City and Stevenage. The incident has been resolved and service recovery is ongoing. However, significant disruption to Great Northern and some Thameslink is expected to continue.

Trains running between London Kings Cross / London St Pancras International and Stevenage may be cancelled, delayed by up to 40 minutes, diverted or revised.

Disruption is expected until the end of the day.

Great Northern / Thameslink customer advice:

Earlier today, emergency services were dealing with a trespass incident near Welwyn North.

Lines are back open, but we have major disruption to all Great Northern and Thameslink services via Welwyn Garden City and Stevenage until further notice.

There will be a significant number of cancellations, service changes and delays this evening. Those trains which are running will be much busier than usual.

A significant number of cancellations, service changes and delays are expected. Please expect that your journey will take at least 60 minutes longer than usual.

If there is a long wait until the next train, and there is an alternative route available for your journey, please consider using this. This is still likely to take longer.

Service changes and routes affected:

Great Northern:

• Some services between London Kings Cross and Kings Lynn may only be able to run between Cambridge and Kings Lynn

• Stopping services between London Kings Cross and Cambridge are likely to be affected by ad hoc changes and cancellations

• Local services between Moorgate and Welwyn Garden City or Stevenage are also likely to have ad hoc changes and cancellations, due to the congestion caused by this incident

Thameslink:

• Most services which usually run between Brighton and Cambridge will either be cancelled, or will not run north of London - there will also be some further changes

• Some services which usually run between Horsham and Peterborough will have delays and service changes, which means trains may not stop at all the usual stations

• Peak-time services which usually run between Sevenoaks and Welwyn Garden City are likely to be cancelled or unable to run for their full journeys
  
  

Please be aware that the changes to Thameslink will affect some journeys south of London.

Alternative journey options:

You can use your ticket to travel at no extra cost on the following:

North of London:

• Alternative Thameslink trains on any reasonable route towards your destination (please note there are no connecting replacement buses between the Bedford route and the Peterborough or Cambridge routes)

• LNER services between London Kings Cross, Stevenage and Peterborough

• Greater Anglia services between:

  • London Liverpool Street and Cambridge

  • Cambridge and Ely

  • Ely and Peterborough

• CrossCountry services between Cambridge, Ely and Peterborough

• East Midlands Railway services between Ely and Peterborough

• Arriva buses on routes:

  • 55 between Stevenage and Letchworth

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

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

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

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

• Uno buses on routes:

  • 242 between Hatfield, Welham Green, Brookmans Park, Potters Bar, and Cuffley

  • 243 between Hatfield, Welham Green, Brookmans Park, Potters Bar, and High Barnet (for Tube connections via the Northern Line)

  • 602 between Hatfield, St Albans, and Radlett

  • 610 between Luton, Harpenden, and Hatfield

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

North London area:

• Greater Anglia services between London Liverpool Street and Hertford East, which is approximately 20 minute from Hertford North

• London Overground services on the Weaver line between Liverpool Street and Enfield Town, which is approximately 10 minutes from Enfield Chase

• London Buses between Central London and Enfield / Potters Bar
  

Central London:

• London Underground services to transfer across London on any reasonable route

• Elizabeth line services between Farringdon and Liverpool Street – change at Liverpool Street for Greater Anglia and London Overground (Weaver line) services
  
  

South London area and South of London:

• London Buses on any reasonable route between Central London, Nunhead, Catford and Bromley

• Southern services to & from London Bridge or London Victoria, on any reasonable route

• Gatwick Express services between London Victoria, Gatwick Airport, Haywards Heath and Brighton

• Southeastern services between Central London and Bromley South / Sevenoaks

• Metrobus services on the following routes:

  • 2 between Crawley and Ifield

  • 3 between the Crawley, Three Bridges and Gatwick Airport areas

  • 23 between Horsham, Crawley and Faygate

  • 200 between Horsham, Littlehaven, Faygate, the Ifield area and Gatwick Airport

Tickets for today will be valid tomorrow:

You can use your ticket for today on services tomorrow instead.

You'll only be able to do this on trains which are operated by Thameslink and Great Northern. Please speak to other train companies if you need help travelling on their services.

Replacement buses:

A small number of replacement buses have been arranged that you may be able to use to reach your destination, particularly on the Cambridge route.

These are being managed locally by staff, at locations north of London. Please listen to local advice which will indicate if these are in use.

Advice for common journeys:

Travelling between London and Stevenage:

• You can use Thameslink services between Central London and St Albans City, Luton Airport Parkway or Luton, for connecting Arriva buses

• You can also use LNER services between London Kings Cross and Stevenage, where available but most of these trains are also disrupted
  
  

Travelling between London and Cambridge

• You can use London Underground, London Bus or Elizabeth line services to travel to Liverpool Street, where Greater Anglia services run to Cambridge

Travelling between London and Peterborough:

• You can use London Underground, London Bus or Elizabeth line services to travel to Liverpool Street, where Greater Anglia services run to Cambridge. From there, connecting services run to Ely and Peterborough

• You can also use LNER services between London Kings Cross and Peterborough, where available
  

Planning your journey:

You can check train departures from your station:

• Thameslink live departure boards

• Great Northern live departure boards

You can view live maps of the network:

• Thameslink live route map

• Great Northern live route map

You can view the alternative route guides:

• Thameslink alternative route guide

• Great Northern 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 also use the apps to find up-to-date information.

Can you tell me more about the incident?

Earlier today, the emergency services and Network Rail were working to remove a trespasser from the railway near Welwyn North. This has now been done, but took considerable time. Some trains were being held in the area, and others diverted via a slower route through Hertford North. This has caused major congestion.

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.