Major disruption to trains across England after radio fault

A radio system is wreaking havoc on train services across southern England this morning, with passengers warned of severe disruption.

Seven train companies have been affected: CrossCountry, Gatwick Express, Great Western Railway, London Overground, Southern, South Western Railway and Thameslink.

The fault has been placed in a radio system, used so that the driver and signaller can communicate.

South Western Railway said their engineers haven’t yet found where the fault is, and they don’t have an ETA as to when services will resume.

A National Rail spokesperson said: ‘Some services may be delayed by up to 90 minutes or cancelled as a result. Major disruption is expected until the end of the day.’

CrossCountry Customers can use their tickets on other services, including two CrossCountry services operating before and after a cancelled service, Great Western Railway services between Reading and Basingstoke, and South Western Railway services between Basingstoke and Bournemouth.

Great Western Railway customers can use their tickets on CrossCountry or South Western Railway through any reasonable route.

As for Gatwick Express, Southern and Thameslink customers, delays and cancellations are expected to persist.

Those travelling to Gatwick Airport have been urged to leave early and provide extra time to ensure they arrive before their flights.

Customers on these services can travel on the following services at no additional cost:

• Alternative Southern services between London Victoria, Worthing and Gatwick Airport
• Alternative Thameslink services between Brighton and London via Gatwick Airport
• South Western Railway services between London Waterloo and Southampton / Portsmouth
• London Underground via any reasonable route.
• Stagecoach route 9 between Arundel, Littlehampton, Worthing and Shoreham-by-Sea
• Stagecoach 700 between Chichester and Portsmouth (City Centre) and between Littlehampton and Bognor Regis
• Stagecoach route 500 between Chichester, Barnham and Littlehampton

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.