Disruption between London St Pancras International and Luton Airport Parkway expected until the end of the day 

Route(s) affected

East Midlands Railway between London St Pancras International and Corby / East Midlands Parkway / Nottingham / Sheffield

Thameslink between Brighton / East Grinstead / Three Bridges / Three Bridges / Sutton / Rainham (Kent) and Bedford, between Three Bridges / Gatwick Airport / Sutton / Rainham (Kent) and Luton, and also between Sutton and St Albans City

Description

A fault with the signalling system between London St Pancras International and Luton Airport Parkway means that trains must run at a reduced speed on some lines towards Luton. Trains running through these stations may be cancelled, delayed by up to 40 minutes or revised as a result.

Disruption is expected until the end of the day.

East Midlands Railway customer advice:

East Midlands Railway are currently looking at alternative arrangements to keep you on the move. Please remember that this can take time and be assured that the team are working tirelessly to arrange this as quickly as possible for you.

You may use your ticket to travel at no extra cost on the following train services:

• Northern and Cross Country between Sheffield and Doncaster, in both directions

• Thameslink between London St Pancras International and Bedford, in both directions

• LNER between London Kings Cross and Doncaster, in both directions

Please be aware that travelling on the alternate routes will add up to 60 minutes to your journey.

Some of usual ticket restrictions have been relaxed. If you hold an ‘Advance Ticket’ which is usually valid on a specific train you may use it to travel on any East Midlands Railway train on this route.

Thameslink customer advice:

For most journeys you can continue to use your normal route of travel but should allow extra time to account for delays. We would recommend 10 - 15 minutes extra.

Thameslink services between St Albans City and Sutton via Mitcham will run at a reduced frequency. If you were planning a journey using these services you may need to use an alternative route.

Further ad-hoc alterations to services are possible meaning your train may not stop at some advertised stations, or will be started / terminated at a different station than planned.

If your planned train is cancelled it may be worth waiting for the next available service, in which case we would recommend allowing at least 30 minutes extra time.

Ticket acceptance is in place with London Trams and London buses, which we'd recommend using to connect with alternative Southern or Thameslink services towards your destination.

You'll be able to see any further updates on this page, so please continue to check back here.

Live departure boards, station screens and journey planners are being updated with the latest service information.

Please check your train before travelling.

Ticket acceptance:

Your ticket will be accepted at no extra cost on the following:

• Alternative Thameslink services on any reasonable route.

• Southern services on any reasonable route

• London Underground on any reasonable route, including Northern line services to / from Morden

• London Buses services between Sutton, Wimbledon and London Blackfriars

• London Trams services between East Croydon, Mitcham Junction and Wimbledon

• East Midlands Railway services between London St Pancras International, Luton Airport Parkway and Bedford

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.

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

Can you tell me more about the incident?

This part of the network uses track circuits to detect trains. If a circuit fails, the system may think a train is still there, blocking others from moving forward.

Drivers must stop at red signals and get verbal permission to proceed at a reduced speed, which can cause significant delays, especially in areas with long track sections.

Faults can be caused by electronic issues or track obstructions. Network Rail is investigating, and we’ll share updates as soon as we have them. Thank you for your patience.

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.