A speed restriction over defective track between Gatwick Airport and East Croydon means some trains may be delayed, cancelled or revised.

This is expected to continue for the rest of service today.

Customer Advice

Please leave some extra time for your journey between London and Brighton this afternoon.

There are no direct Southern trains between London Victoria and Brighton in both directions for the rest of the day.

You'll need to take the first train from London that calls at East Croydon and change there for a Thameslink train to Brighton. Thameslink run trains in both directions between London Bridge, East Croydon, Gatwick Airport, and Brighton.

No need to worry about paying extra as Thameslink are accepting tickets marked "Southern only" all of today. There aren't as many trains running to Brighton so you'll likely have a longer wait than usual at the station.

Southern tickets can also be used on the London Underground throughout Zone 1 and Zone 2 to help you travel between the major central London railway stations.

Why is my train towards London travelling so slowly between Gatwick Airport and East Croydon?

There are two emergency speed limits in place between Salfords and Earlswood. Because of this, all Southern and Thameslink trains towards London are having to travel much slower than usual, and are being delayed by up to 15 minutes as a result.

What's happening?

Network Rail track engineers have discovered a rail defect in the Salfords area and have put in place an emergency 20mph speed limit. There's also an existing emergency 5mph speed limit near Earlswood whilst repairs are being carried out to the track. Both speed limits are on the line used by express trains between Gatwick Airport and East Croydon.

Trains are being switched off this line to prevent a large queue of trains building up on the approach, and may be diverted to go through Redhill instead. To reduce delays in the area, the direct Southern train service between London Victoria and Brighton has been suspended for the rest of the day.

Check before you travel:
You can check your journey using the National Rail Enquiries real-time Journey Planner

Twitter:
If you would like to follow this incident on Twitter, please use #Earlswood

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.

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