A points failure at West Hampstead Thameslink means some lines are blocked. As a result, trains may be delayed by up to 20 minutes. This is expected until 17:45.

Customer Advice for East Midlands Railway:

There is a points failure at West Hampstead. This is between Luton and London St Pancras and is disrupting our trains on the London St Pancras/ Nottingham/ Sheffield and London St Pancras/ Luton Airport Parkway/ Corby routes. Network Rail are on site investigating the problem. You can find out how point failures affects the railway here. How does this affect my train? Trains running through the area in both directions between Luton and London St Pancras International can run, however, services may be delayed by 5 - 10 minutes.

Trains running through the area from Luton towards London St Pancras can run normally, however, these services may be delayed by 15-20 minutes. At present we are expecting the problem to be fixed in the next 2 hours. As soon as the problem is fixed the priority will be to get trains running to their advertised times again. How do I get where I need to be? 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 staff are working tirelessly to arrange this as quickly as possible for you. If you need advice on how to complete your journey please speak to a member of station staff, use the help points or you can use X @EastMidRailway or on Facebook (East Midlands Railway). You can also call on 03457125 678 option 4.

Customer Advice for Thameslink:

You can continue to travel using your normal route, but your journey may take up to 20 minutes longer than usual.

Please check journey planners and station information boards before you travel, and allow extra time to reach your destination.

Live departure boards can be found here and you can check the live map here to see if your journey has been affected.

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

Can you tell me more about the incident?

A points failure has been reported between West Hampstead Thameslink and Kentish Town, preventing trains from using some of the routes through this area.

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, staff 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.