Train passengers face severe delays and cancellations after 'major signalling fault' strikes the South East

26 February 2024, 10:54 | Updated: 26 February 2024, 11:08

Travellers are facing severe delays and widespread cancellations following a major signal failure affecting key routes across the South East.

The power failure, which struck during the early hours of Monday morning, continues to cause widespread disruption across Southern and Thameslink routes into the afternoon.

The travel chaos comes amid yellow weather warnings from the Met Office following heavy rain and high winds which continue to batter Britain.

Govia Thameslink remains one of the worst affected services, with disruption expected to continue between East Croydon and Brighton well into Monday afternoon.

Other services affected include the Gatwick Express, which saw all services cancelled on Monday morning.

Southern added there had been points failures at both Haywards Heath and Hove which continues to affect services.

The route has now began operating a "limited service" between Gatwick and London Victoria from 09:40am, with the first service between Gatwick and Brighton still suspended until further notice.

Passengers have also been told to check with train operators before travelling to avoid being caught up in the disruption.

Services between Brighton and Chichester have also been reduced to one train an hour going into Monday afternoon, with no Thameslink services operating between Cambridge and Brighton.

Delays and cancellations also extend across Brighton, Portsmouth and Chichester routes.

By 7am, a limited number of services had resumed - however, all services between Littlehampton and London Victoria remain cancelled.

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A Network Rail spokesperson said: "At 03:04 there was a loss of power across some the UK Power Networks which significantly impacted our Three Bridges Signalling Centre which controls the signalling across the majority of our Sussex route.

"All signalling was restored at 06:30 and while some Southern services have resumed operating across the Sussex route, a number of Southern and Thameslink services remain significantly disrupted and there are currently no Gatwick Express services in operation until further notice.

"We're really sorry to any passengers disrupted this morning and we encourage passengers to check with their train operator before travelling for the latest information and updates."