Lines reopened: disruption in the Watford Junction area expected until 12:00 

Route(s) affected

Avanti West Coast between Edinburgh / Glasgow Central / Lancaster / Manchester Piccadilly / Liverpool Lime Street / Holyhead / Chester / Wrexham General / Wolverhampton / Birmingham New Street and London Euston

London Northwestern Railway between Crewe / Birmingham New Street / Rugby / Northampton / Milton Keynes Central and London Euston, and also between Birmingham New Street and Milton Keynes Central

Southern between Watford Junction and Selhurst / East Croydon

Description

Lines have reopened following a fault with the signalling system in the Watford Junction area.

Trains running between Watford Junction and Shepherds Bush / London Euston may continue be cancelled, delayed by up to 25 minutes or revised as service recovers.

Disruption is expected until 12:00.

London Overground are currently not affected by this disruption.

A visual disruption map video is now available.

Avanti West Coast customer advice:

If your train is cancelled, your ticket is valid on one of the two Avanti West Coast services immediately before your booked train, or one of the two immediately after.

If you no longer wish to travel because your train's delayed or cancelled, you can request a full refund from where you bought your ticket.

London Northwestern Railway customer advice:

Trains that run between Tring and London Euston will continue to be cancelled.

You may use your ticket, at no extra cost on the following services:

• Avanti West Coast between Crewe and London Euston, and also between Liverpool Lime Street and Birmingham New Street. Please note, Avanti West Coast are also affected by this disruption

• London Buses between Watford Junction and London Euston

Southern customer advice:

An earlier signalling problem near Watford Junction has been affecting Southern services to / from this station.

Some trains have been unable to run north of Shepherds Bush.

A number of alternative routes exist in this area, and Southern recommend you use these, if there's a long wait until the next direct train to your destination.

To help you complete your journey, your Southern ticket will be accepted at no extra cost on:

• London Underground on any reasonable route across central, north and west London

• London Northwestern Railway between Watford Junction, Harrow & Wealdstone and London Euston, although these are also disrupted by the same issue

• London Overground on:
  The Lioness line between Watford Junction, Harrow & Wealdstone, Wembley Central, Willesden Junction and Euston
  The Mildmay line between Willesden Junction and Shepherds Bush, connecting with Southern services

Using an alternative route will take up to 30-45 minutes longer than usual, so please leave extra time for your journey and check the journey planning tools.

Southern are aiming to then resume a normal service with the following trains:

• 10:00 East Croydon to Watford Junction

• 11:52 Watford Junction to East Croydon

Planning your journey:

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

You can see an alternative route guide.

In the London area, you can plan journeys on alternative routes by using the TfL Journey Planner.

You can also use Southern's app to find up-to-date information.

Can you tell me more about the incident?

Network Rail are working to resolve a fault with the signalling system just north of Watford Junction, following overnight engineering works. Unfortunately, Southern need to reduce the number of trains in the area because of the congestion that is occurring.

Response staff are now on site and working to deal with electronic system issues. A temporary fix is being put in place.

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.