A fault with the signalling system at London Victoria means some lines are blocked. As a result, trains may be delayed by up to 15 minutes. This is expected until 18:00.
Customer Advice:
You can still use your normal route to travel, but trains leaving London Victoria may be delayed by up to 15 minutes. If you are travelling from this station, please allow an extra 15 minutes to complete your journey.
Additional peak-time services between London Victoria and Sutton, via Norbury, have been withdrawn.
You can use your ticket on alternative Southern services towards your destination.
Planning your journey:
Live departure boards can be found here.
You can view a live map of the network here, and you can also see an alternative route guide here.
Can you tell me more about this incident?
It has been identified that this fault is a result of a track circuit failure at London Victoria. In this case, Network Rail engineers need to have access to some of the lines in order to review and rectify the fault. As a result, some lines at London Victoria will be blocked and fewer trains are able to run.
What are track circuit failures?
These are electrical systems which monitor whether a train is on a section of track. They operate as part of the signalling system, which is designed to be "fail safe".
When a track circuit fails, the signalling system will interpret this as a train remaining in place, even though there may not be a train present at all, or the previous service may have long since left the area.
As a result, further trains cannot be automatically allowed onto the relevant section of track. Train drivers will be stopped by red signals on approach. They will then get verbal permission from the signaller so that they can proceed, and will run at a heavily-reduced speed as far as the next signal. This is so that the drivers will stop safely if they see anything ahead of them.
In some areas, the sections between signals can be several miles long, so this can result in delays building up. Even with shorter sections of track affected, there would still be a delay of at least a few minutes to each journey.
Track circuit faults can be caused by a number of different issues, including electronic faults or obstructions on the track. Network Rail manage the signalling system, including track circuits, and their staff will be investigating as quickly as possible.
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.