Tens of thousands of train passengers faced long delays on Thursday after faulty signalling equipment caused major disruption across London. People travelling through the capital were told to avoid London Victoria station if using Southern, Gatwick Express or Thameslink trains.
Journeys were cancelled and delayed by up to 60 minutes after the fault in Streatham, south London. National Rail said disruption would last until at least 07:00 BST on Friday. Passengers were advised to check the Southern website in the morning to see whether trains were running.
The cause of the fault was traced to the failure of the power supply linked to signalling equipment. Network Rail, the government-owned company responsible for maintaining rail infrastructure, offered a 'sincere apology' to customers. A statement said that while a 'temporary fix' was put in place after engineers worked overnight, significant disruption would continue across affected lines.
About 210,000 passengers use the station a day, according to average figures collected for the Office of Rail and Road in 2016-17. Gatwick Express services were suspended on Thursday while Southern and Thameslink trains were badly affected. Southeastern trains said its services to and from Victoria were running normally, but Thameslink reported knock-on disruption between Luton and Wimbledon.
Commuters described packed trains and overcrowded platforms. Kevin Liffey, 54, missed his sister's funeral in Jersey because he could not get to Gatwick Airport in time for his flight, despite spending £90 on a taxi from Victoria. Adam Parker, 32, said he was 'close to breaking point' after a three-hour journey from Hove into work.
John Halsall, Network Rail's managing director for the South East route, said: 'I would like to offer a sincere apology to everyone who has had their journey disrupted today. Our job is to provide a reliable railway for train operators and the travelling public and today it's clear we've failed in that task.'
