3 hours ago
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A “do not travel” alert has been issued by the UK’s largest railway franchise, after a train derailment and signalling issues affected services across south-east England.
Train operators Southern, Thameslink and Gatwick Express – all part of the Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) franchise in south-east England – urged passengers not to travel on Wednesday morning “if at all possible” because of “multiple incidents”.
Issues include a train derailment inside a depot in Selhurst, south-east London, and a signalling fault between London Blackfriars and Norwood Junction.
The train operators told passengers: “A number of incidents across the Gatwick Express, Southern and Thameslink networks mean that all lines are disrupted. Trains across these networks may be cancelled, severely delayed by up to 60 minutes or revised.”
Disruption is expected to continue for the rest of the day.
Network Rail released an image of the derailed Southern train showing it remained upright. It added there were “no confirmed injuries”. The incident is preventing other trains from leaving the depot.
National Rail Enquiries said the signalling fault meant fewer rail lines were available between Norwood Junction and London Blackfriars, and trains running on the available lines must travel at slower speeds than normal.
Services are suspended on routes between London Bridge and East Grinstead; Orpington and Luton; Brighton and Cambridge; and Bedford and Three Bridges.
Trains that usually run between Welwyn Garden City and Sevenoaks are operating only between London Blackfriars and Sevenoaks.
Services between Rainham and Luton are running only between Rainham and Dartford.
Trains that normally operate between Horsham and Peterborough, or Brighton and Bedford, may run via Selhurst instead of Norwood Junction.
A GTR spokesperson said: “We’re very sorry for the disruption that customers have experienced this morning.
“A fault with the signalling system between Norwood Junction and London Bridge, along with a train derailment at Selhurst depot, are causing the disruption.
“We’re working with Network Rail to resolve these issues as quickly as possible. We advise customers to check our website and social media accounts for the latest travel information.”
GTR, which also includes operator Great Northern, is the UK’s largest railway franchise in terms of passengers carried. About 18% of train trips in the UK are made on GTR services, according to the company.
Great Britain’s rail operators are in the process of being nationalised by the government, with West Midlands Trains the latest, last weekend. GTR is expected to be the next operator nationalised, in May.
