A points failure between Hove and Preston Park means some lines are blocked. As a result, trains running between these stations may be delayed by up to 20 minutes or diverted.

Disruption is expected until 12:00.

Customer Advice:

Southern services are unable to run directly from Hove towards Preston Park, on the route between Littlehampton and London Victoria.

Trains from Littlehampton towards London Victoria will be diverted, and will run through Horsham. This means they will not stop at any of the usual stations between Littlehampton and Gatwick Airport.

If you are travelling from Littlehampton and you need stations between Angmering and Hove, please take a train to Ford or Barnham and change there. If you need stations in the Haywards Heath area, please change at Gatwick Airport.

If you are travelling from stations between Angmering and Hove, there will be a reduced number of departures, and please change at Brighton for stations to London.

If you need to change trains more often, please leave at least 20 minutes of extra time for your journey.

You can use Southern services between Hove and Brighton, and Thameslink services between Brighton and the London area, at no extra cost. If you use a Thameslink service, you can change at Haywards Heath, Three Bridges, Gatwick Airport or East Croydon if you need Clapham Junction and London Victoria.

This disruption may cause the cancellations of some trains departing from London Victoria towards Littlehampton, in reaction. This is because some of our trains and crews are no longer in the right places. However, where trains do run in this direction, they can use their normal routes and serve the normal stations.

Planning your journey:

Our live departure boards can be found here.

You can view a live map of the Southern network here.

You can also see an alternative route guide here.

Can you tell me more about the incident?

A points failure has been reported at Preston Park Junction.

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.

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 trains on other routes also being held at stations or signals.

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, we 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.