Lines have now reopened following a vehicle striking a bridge at Balham. While service recovers, trains running through this station may still be cancelled, delayed by up to 30 minutes or revised.

Disruption is expected until the end of the day.

Customer Advice

Earlier this evening, Southhern had reports that a road vehicle had struck a bridge in the Balham area.

All lines have reopened. However, this incident is still causing severe disruption to Southern and Gatwick Express services to and from London Victoria, as well as Southern services to and from Watford Junction.

Southern don't have an exact estimate for the delays at the moment. However, please expect trains to be delayed by at least 30-45 minutes in this area. There will also be some changes, as below.

If there is a long wait for the next train, and you are travelling around the London area, it is recommend that you use another route, if there's a local option for your journey.

For longer-distance journeys, you may find it is easier to wait for the next train, even though it may have a severe delay.

If you use another route, this will still take extra time. It is recommend that you leave at least 30 minutes of extra time, and check the services available at this time of the evening.

Changes to services:

Southern will need to cancel some trains. Also, late-running trains may be revised. This means they may not stop at all of the usual stations, or they may terminate part of the way along their usual routes.

As a result, you may need to change trains to get to your destination.

In addition, some trains have already been diverted to run to / from London Bridge instead of London Victoria.

Ticket acceptance on alternative routes:

You may use alternative Southern and Thameslink services on any reasonable route to / from London Bridge, instead of using London Victoria services.

Your ticket will be accepted at no extra cost on:

• London Underground services on any reasonable route to transfer across London
• London Buses between Central London and Croydon, Sutton or Crystal Palace
• London Trams between Wimbledon, Mitcham Junction, West Croydon and East Croydon
• London Overground services around the South London and West London areas
• South Western Railway services between London Waterloo and Wimbledon, as well as services to / from the Portsmouth area
• Southeastern services on any reasonable route, including services around South London, as well as between London Bridge and Hastings
• London Northwestern Railway services between Watford Junction and London Euston

Planning your journey:

Live departure boards can be found here.

You can view a live map of the network here.

You can also see an alternative route guide here.

Can you tell me more about the incident?

Earlier tonight, the Met Police advised that a road vehicle had struck a railway bridge in the Balham area.

This meant that trains were stopped on all lines over the bridge. Network Rail responders have now attended and confirmed the bridge is safe for normal use.

Southern take railway safety very seriously and needed to ensure these checks were undertaken.

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.