Overunning engineering works and a points failure between New Cross Gate and Crystal Palace / Norwood Junction means all lines are currently disrupted. As a result, trains may be cancelled, delayed by up to 30 minutes or revised.
Disruption is expected until 09:00.
Customer Advice:
London Overground
To assist you with your journey your ticket will be accepted on London Buses via any reasonable route.
Southern and Thameslink
Southern and Thameslink services are unable to run on the usual route from Norwood Junction or Crystal Palace towards London Bridge (via Forest Hill). This is due to engineering works not being finished on time earlier, and now a points failure at Sydenham. The route is still open in the opposite direction, but trains may not be able to run normally, as a number of trains and crews are no longer in the right places. Trains may be cancelled, terminated before they get to this part of the network, or diverted. Where diversions happen, trains may not stop at all the usual stations. Diverted Thameslink trains will not be able to call at Norwood Junction or London Bridge, but will instead run non-stop from East Croydon towards London Blackfriars. This route also takes longer than normal. Diverted Southern services may run to/from London Victoria instead of London Bridge. We recommend you leave at least 30 minutes of extra time for your journey in this area, and you may also need to change trains more often or use another route to get to your destination.
Ticket acceptance on alternative routes:
You can use your ticket at no extra cost on:
- Southern or Thameslink services interchangeably on any reasonable route, including Southern services to/from London Victoria
- London Underground services on any reasonable route across London
- London Buses between the Croydon area, Norwood Junction and Central London
- London Trams between West Croydon, East Croydon and either Beckenham Junction or Elmers End
- Southeastern services via Penge East (for Penge West), Sydenham Hill (for Sydenham), Nunhead (for the Brockley area), London Bridge (for the Hastings Line) and either Elmers End or Beckenham Junction (for Tram connections)
- London Overground services between Clapham Junction, Peckham Rye and Canada Water (for Jubilee Line connections)
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. For the London area, you can plan journeys on alternative routes by using the TfL Journey Planner here.
Can you tell me more about the incident? Engineering works were taking longer than planned in the Sydenham area. The route has now reopened in the southbound direction, but a points failure has now occurred, blocking both northbound lines. We're working to monitor progress updates and run trains as soon as possible. Points are moveable sections of track which can send trains onto different routes at junctions. These are part of the signalling system, managed by Network Rail in this area. 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.
âââââââCompensation:
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.