Disruption between Watford Junction and London Euston / Clapham Junction and Watford Junction expected until the end of the day 

Route(s) affected

Avanti West Coast services to / from London Euston

London Northwestern Railway services to / from London Euston

Southern between East Croydon / Selhurst / Clapham Junction and Watford Junction

Description

A points failure between Wembley Central and London Euston means some lines are blocked. As a result, trains running between Clapham Junction / London Euston and Watford Junction may be cancelled, revised or delayed by up to 30 minutes.

Disruption is expected until the end of the day.

Advice for Avanti West Coast customers:

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 is cancelled you can request a full refund from where you bought your ticket.

Advice for London Northwestern Railway customers:

To assist you with your journey, you can use your ticket on the following services, at no extra cost:

• London Buses between Watford Junction and London Euston

• London Overground (Lioness Line)

Advice for Southern customers:

The latest estimate for Southern customers is that disruption is expected until 09:30.

Trains are unable to run between Watford Junction and Shepherds Bush due to a points failure. You will have to use an alternative route to reach your destination as trains from East Croydon will be terminating and restarting at Shepherds Bush.

You can use your existing ticket at no extra cost on London Underground or London Buses between these stations. Please note this will take you longer than normal to reach your destination, so please leave at least 30 minutes extra time.

Please ensure to check before you travel using our online journey planners and live departure boards for the latest information.

Planning your journey:

You can use live departure boards, a live map of the network and the alternative route guide to help you this morning.

If you're travelling in the London area, you can plan journeys on alternative routes by using the TfL Journey Planner.

The Southern 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 running between Shepherds Bush and Watford Junction.

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.