No Southern services between Shepherds Bush and Watford Junction until the end of the day 

Route(s) affected

Southern trains between East Croydon and Watford Junction

Description

A points failure at Watford Junction means that some lines are disrupted. As a result, Southern trains between Shepherds Bush and Watford Junction will be cancelled.

Disruption is expected until the end of the day.

A visual disruption map video is available.

Customer advice:

Southern services that run between East Croydon and Watford Junction will be disrupted by a points failure near Watford Junction.

Service Changes:

Services will run between East Croydon and Shepherds Bush only. This means you will need to use an alternative route for the following stations:

• Wembley Central

• Harrow & Wealdstone

• Watford Junction

If you are affected by cancellations or service changes, you may need to use a different route to complete your journey. Although this is usually quicker than waiting for the next train, it will still take up to 30-45 minutes longer than usual, so please leave extra time.

Ticket Acceptance:

Your Southern ticket for this route will be accepted at no extra cost on:

• London Underground services on any reasonable route across Central, North and West London

• London Overground services on the:

  • Mildmay line between Clapham Junction, Shepherds Bush and Willesden Junction

  • Lioness line between Euston, Willesden Junction, Wembley Central, Harrow & Wealdstone and Watford Junction

• London Northwestern Railway services between London Euston, Harrow & Wealdstone and Watford Junction

• Alternative Southern services to & from London Victoria, for London Underground connections

Please check your journey planning tools before you travel.

Planning your journey:

To help you with your journey, you can view the live departure boards and also a live map of the network.

You can also see 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 also use the Southern app to find up-to-date information.

Can you tell me more about this?

A points failure has been reported, and this is preventing trains from using some of the routes through this area.

Points are moveable sections of track which can send trains onto different routes at junctions. These are part of the signalling system, generally managed by Network Rail.

Points can stop moving correctly for a number of reasons. For example, there may be an obstruction in the moving parts, or the electronic control systems may have developed a fault.

There are various backup systems which allow signallers to try to "set" the points, and in some cases, the points may be available for trains in one of the directions they serve, but not another. However, with more severe failures, the line in question may be blocked entirely.

Network Rail will send their specialist Signalling & Telecoms teams to site, and they will set up a safe method of working on the track. To allow staff to access the railway, sometimes we have to stop trains completely, which can lead to your train being held at stations or signals en route.

As soon as it's safe to go on the line, the staff will diagnose the fault and find any quick solutions to resolve it.

Whilst this is being done, we will be monitoring progress closely. At times, replacement parts may be needed, or specialist advice from suppliers, which is why some points failures take longer to resolve than others.

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.