Signalling fault sparks major rail disruption

Rail commuters suffered major disruption on Monday morning due to a widespread signalling failure.

Thameslink, Southern and Gatwick Express, which operate in south-east England, said shortly before 4am that “no trains will be running until further notice”.

Some routes reopened by 7am but others remain closed or have severe delays.

There are no Southern trains between Littlehampton and London Victoria, while services between Brighton and London are limited.

Thameslink is not running services between Cambridge and Brighton, while there is a reduced service at Preston Park, Hassocks, Burgess Hill and Haywards Heath towards Gatwick Airport.

A Network Rail spokesman said: “Shortly after 3am, a UK Power Networks outage significantly impacted our Three Bridges Signalling Centre, which controls the railway’s traffic light system across the majority of our Sussex route.

“Although power was restored at 6.30am it’s still had a significant impact on our customers.

“In addition, an issue with a set of points at Haywards Heath – the moveable sections of track that move trains from one track to another – reduced the number of trains we could run through the station as two of the platforms were unavailable until the issue was fixed at around 11am.

“We’ve also found a problem with a set of points at Preston Park which is restricting the number of trains we can run to and from Brighton and Hove.

“Our engineers are on site and working to fix this as quickly as we can.

“A number of Southern, Thameslink and Gatwick Express services remain significantly disrupted until further notice.

“We continue to reintroduce services where possible and anticipate a much improved service for this evening’s peak.

“We’re really sorry to any passengers disrupted this morning and encourage everyone to check with their train operator before travelling for the latest information and updates.”

Meanwhile, Great Western Railway and Elizabeth line services are disrupted by a landslip between Twyford and Reading, affecting routes to and from London Paddington.

Two out of four lines in the area have been taken out of use, and the capacity has been reduced on the remaining lines.

A Network Rail spokesman said: “Our engineers are on site working to safely reopen all lines as soon as possible, but disruption may continue throughout today.”