Major disruption between Stevenage and London Kings Cross expected until 15:00 

Route(s) affected

Grand Central services between Sunderland / Bradford Interchange and London Kings Cross

Great Northern services between Cambridge / Letchworth Garden City and London Kings Cross

Hull trains between Hull and London Kings Cross

LNER services betweenBradford Forester Square / Harrogate /Leeds / York and Londonn Kings Cross

Lumo services between Edinburgh and London Kings Cross

Description

A points failure in the Stevenage area and an earlier track defect between Hitchin and Welwyn Garden City means services between these stations will be disrupted. As a result of this, trains between Stevenage and London Kings Cross may be delayed up to 40 minutes, cancelled, revised or where possible, diverted.

Major disruption is expected until 15:00.

A visual disruption map video is now available

Customer advice for Great Northern / Thameslink:

If you are travelling now, your journey will take at least 40 minutes longer than usual. You may need to use an alternative route or change trains more times than usual to reach your destination.

An earlier track defect in the Welwyn North area disrupted trains between Welwyn Garden City and Hitchin. Some trains on this route may still be delayed or diverted between Alexandra Palace and Stevenage via Hertford North. Operators are working to return to the scheduled timetable, but please continue to allow additional time if you are travelling between these stations.

A points failure in the Stevenage area means that some lines are blocked. Trains are unable to use the 'fast' or non-stopping lines. Trains can continue to run through Stevenage on the 'slow' or stopping lines, but trains may begin to queue to pass over this section of the track, leading to delays.

Expected service:

Great Northern and Thameslink services in both directions are expected to be delayed or run to a revised calling pattern.

Great Northern trains, which usually run from Moorgate towards Stevenage, will not stop at stations between Alexandra Palace and Stevenage.

These trains will not call at the following stations in the direction towards Stevenage:

• Bowes Park

• Palmers Green

• Winchmore Hill

• Grange Park

• Enfield Chase

• Gordon Hill

• Crews Hill

• Cuffley

• Bayford

• Hertford North

• Watton-at-Stone

Trains which run on this route in the opposite direction from Stevenage to Moorgate will continue to call at all stations.

Thameslink trains which run between:

• Horsham and Peterborough

• Brighton and Cambridge
  
  

Will divert after Alexandra Palace and run via Hertford North.

If you are travelling from London to stations between Alexandra Palace and Hertford North:

You can use London buses from London towards stations between Bowes Park and Crews Hill.

If you are travelling to Hertford North, you can use London Underground services to travel to London Liverpool Street, then use Greater Anglia services to Hertford East.

It may also be faster to travel on a service to Stevenage, then change for a return service towards London, which will call at all booked stations.

Please check your journey before you travel, so you can decide which will be the fastest route to your destination.

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

• Thameslink or Great Northern services on any reasonable route towards your destination

• LNER services between London Kings Cross, Stevenage, and Peterborough

• London buses on routes between London and Crews Hill or Potters Bar

• London Underground on any reasonable route

• Greater Anglia services between London Liverpool Street and Hertford East / Cambridge

• Elizabeth line services between London Liverpool Street and Farringdon to connect with alternative Thameslink routes.

• London Overground services between London Liverpool Street and Enfield Town

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.

You can use the Great Northern and Thameslink app to find up-to-date information.

Can you tell me more about the incident?

Following earlier reports of a possible issue with the track in the Welwyn North area, Network Rail have had to put a speed restriction in place.

Your journey may be delayed by this, and in some cases, there may be some service changes, as this means the network has lower capacity, because trains take longer to travel along each section of track.

Unfortunately, a points failure in the Stevenage area is also disrupting trains in both directions, which may lead to further delays or amendments in service.

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