A fault on a train at Three Bridges means some lines towards London are blocked. As a result of this, trains running through this station may be delayed by up to 30 minutes or revised.
Disruption is expected until 21:30.
Customer Advice:
A fault on a train at Three Bridges means that one of the northbound lines towards Gatwick Airport, East Croydon and London is blocked.
Delays are possible to northbound Southern, Thameslink and Gatwick Express services that run from Brighton, Littlehampton and Eastbourne/Ore towards London. Delays of up to 30 minutes are possible, but most services running through the Three Bridges are now are expected to pick up delays of no more than 15 minutes.
In addition to this, some small delays of about 5-10 minutes are possible to southbound Southern services that run from London Victoria towards Horsham, Bognor Regis and Portsmouth Harbour.
Some short notice alterations/cancellations are possible as a result. This means that services may start and terminate at a different station to normal, or will have cancelled stops.
You can travel using your normal route, but we'd advise allowing an extra 20 minutes to your journey time this evening.
Tickets will be accepted mutually for no extra cost on Southern, Thameslink and Gatwick Express services between Brighton/the coast and London.
You can check if your journey will be affected using the live route map here.
Can you tell me more about the incident?
We've had a report of a fault on a train, and this is now causing delays to other services travelling through this area.
Normally, when a fault on a train occurs, crews will gather details and report this to Fleet teams. If possible, the defect will be fixed promptly, and teams can get the train on the way. The initial steps are designed to take around 10 minutes.
However, sometimes the fault cannot be fixed in this time frame. In this case, wherever possible, the train will be taken out of use and sent to a depot. This does take additional time, as the crew will need to make sure that everyone's managed to leave the train.
If this can't be done either, specialist engineers will be sent to site, known as "fitters". Fitters are based in key locations around the network, 24 hours a day, and they are able to attend anywhere on the affected routes. Once they are on site, progress updates will be monitored to ensure that the railway can be reopened as promptly as possible.
Until the defective train can be moved, staff will try to find a way to get other trains around the issue. This depends how many lines are available, and whether the signalling equipment is set up to allow trains to be routed around the problem. This is more often the case on major routes, but not always. Gatwick Express, Southern and Thameslink will work with Network Rail's controllers to decide how many more trains can be sent through the area, and if this isn't possible, we'll see what alternative solutions are available to help you continue your journey.
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.