Rail latest: 'Major disruption' after do not travel warning for London line

Rail operators warned passengers of major disruption after multiple incidents on the tracks, including a derailment at a south London depot. Catch up on what happened below.

Train derailment brings disruption to South East England
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We're ending our coverage - here's a recap

That's it for our live coverage on the major rail disruption around central and Greater London.

Services for three rail operators - Southern, Thameslink and Gatwick Express - and London Overground services on the Windrush Line are still facing major disruption until the end of the day after multiple incidents on their lines.

This included a Southern train derailing at a depot in south London. No one was injured in the incident.

Passengers still travelling on affected services today been told to expect delays of at least 45 minutes on their journeys.

Scroll down below to catch up on big developments as they happened today.

'This service is unacceptable'

One of our readers believes the rail operators must take responsibility following the major rail disruption.

johnnewman46 told us:

We have just endured a month of severe weekend disruption on the south coast line. Now more. This service is unacceptable isn't it ?

London Gatwick's station still operating

London Gatwick airport has confirmed passengers are still able to use its train station amid the ongoing major disruption.

However, the airport warned they may be subject to delays.

"We will continue to monitor the situation and are liaising with our rail partners. We will update if the situation changes," it said on social media.

Southern, Thameslink and Gatwick Express services all run through the station.

Earlier, National Rail said passengers heading to the airport should allow at least an extra 60 minutes for their journey.

What are signal and points failures?

One of the incidents causing major disruption is a fault with the signalling system between Norwood Junction in south London and London Blackfriars.

But what does this actually mean?

The affected section of the London rail network uses track circuits to detect trains, Network Rail said.

If a circuit fails, the system may think a train is still there, blocking others from moving forward.

Drivers must stop at red signals and get verbal permission to proceed at a reduced speed, which can cause significant delays, especially in areas with long track sections.

The faults can be caused by electronic issues or track obstructions.

Expect journeys to take at least 45 minutes longer, operators say

Southern and Thameslink have said passengers still travelling on their services today should expect journeys to take at least an extra 45 minutes.

There is significant disruption to Thameslink services and some disruption to Southern services, the operators said.

'Signal failure has disrupted services for past month'

The signal failure causing disruption in south London isn't an isolated incident, according to one of our readers. 

Robert M told us:

The signal failure is irritating as services from London via Gatwick have been disrupted for past 4 weeks to fix this.

You can get in touch with your experience of the rail disruption this morning at news@skynews.com, or you can send us a message on WhatsApp.

No injuries in train derailment, Southern says

Southern has confirmed that no one was injured when one of its trains derailed at a depot in Selhurst, south London.

The operator didn't say if the train was in service when the incident occurred.

Watch: Derailed train at south London depot
Line blocked at Norwood Junction

Rail lines in the Norwood Junction area of south London are blocked as engineers work to clear the ongoing disruption.

"Between 10:30am and 11:00am approximately, a block of the line will be taken in the Norwood Junction area," National Rail said.

Services running on the following routes will divert via Selhurst and not call at London Bridge in both directions:

  • Horsham to Peterborough
  • Brighton to Bedford

One of the major incidents causing today's disruption is a fault with the signalling system between Norwood Junction and London Blackfriars.

Derailed train seen from above

Aerial images are coming through of the derailed train at a south London depot.

One of the train's carriages can be seen at a significant angle compared to the others.