Disruption in the Tulse Hill area expected until 14:30 

Route(s) affected

Southern between London Bridge and Beckenham Junction / East Croydon

Thameslink between St Albans City and Sutton

Description

A fault with the signalling system at Tulse Hill means that trains have to run at reduced speed on some lines. As a result of this, trains running in the Tulse Hill area may be delayed or revised to only complete part of their journey.

Disruption is expected until 14:30.

Customer advice:

A fault with the signalling system in the Tulse Hill area is disrupting services through the area. Trains are currently required to run at reduced speeds, meaning services may be delayed or revised at short notice.

Please allow at least 20 minutes extra time to complete your journey today.

For the latest information, check station screens and online journey planners before travelling.

Ticket Acceptance:

Your ticket may be used at no extra cost on the following;

• Southern services between East Croydon and London

• Thameslink services between Sutton and St. Albans City via London terminals

Planning your journey:

You can see a live map of the network. This will now show where your journey is likely to be delayed.

You can also use the app to get more information about your journey.

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, the driver had to stop their train 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 they are working to diagnose the fault and make sure it is fixed as quickly as possible.

Ticket flexibility:

If your train is cancelled, you will be able to travel on an alternative service operated by any other participating train company, either two hours before or two hours after the original departure time of the cancelled service, in order to reach your destination.

If you decide not to travel or cannot complete your journey due to cancellations, you are entitled to a full refund from your original point of sale.

For further information and guidance please contact your train company or speak to a member of railway staff.

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.