Disruption between Clapham Junction / London Euston and Watford Junction expected until 13:00 

Route(s) affected

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

London Northwestern Railway between London Euston and Tring / Milton Keynes Central / Rugby / Birmingham New Street / Crewe

Lumo between London Euston and Preston / Stirling

Southern between East Croydon and Watford Junction

Description

A points failure in the Watford Junction area means some lines are blocked. Trains running between Clapham Junction / London Euston and Watford Junction may be cancelled, delayed by up to 50 minutes or revised.

Southern services will be revised to not run between Shepherds Bush and Watford Junction.

London Overground are no longer affected by this disruption.

Disruption is expected until 13:00.

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 running towards Watford Junction are unable to call at Harrow & Wealdstone and Bushey.

Customers are advised to continue their journey to Watford Junction and change for southbound services to depart at Harrow & Wealdstone or Bushey.

You may use your ticket at no extra cost on London Overground service between London Euston and Watford Junction.

Southern customer advice:

There will be no Southern service at the following stations:

• Wembley Central

• Harrow & Wealdstone

• Watford Junction

If you're travelling to / from one of these stations, you will need to use an alternative route. You should leave up to 30 minutes extra to complete your journey.

You should check station information boards, listen to announcements, and use journey planners to find the latest information.

What alternative are in place?

Your ticket will be accepted on the below alternatives at no additional cost:

For journeys between stations along this route, you can travel on London Buses or London Overground between Clapham Junction and Watford Junction. If you travel on London Overground, you may need to change at Willesden Junction.

For journeys between Clapham Junction and Watford Junction, you can travel via London Victoria and London Euston. To enable you to do so, you should travel on the below:

• Alternative Southern services between Clapham Junction and London Victoria

• London Buses between Clapham Junction and Watford Junction

• London Underground between London Terminals, and on the Bakerloo line for Wembley Central and Harrow & Wealdstone

• London Northwestern Railway services between London Euston and Watford Junction

• London Overground between Clapham Junction and Willesden Junction, and between London Euston and Watford Junction

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.

Southern's app will also help you plan your journey.

Can you tell me more about the incident?

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 Southern 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.