All lines between London St Pancras and Luton were closed shortly before 1pm after a person was hit by a train, causing major disruption to rail services for the rest of the afternoon.
National Rail said emergency services are attending the incident. Major disruption is likely to continue at least until 5pm, impacting East Midlands Railway and Thameslink services. Services could be cancelled, delayed by up to 60 minutes or revised.
Travel advice for commuters
Passengers travelling on Thameslink services to Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire are advised to delay their journey until later today if possible. Trains in both directions between West Hampstead Thameslink, St Albans City, Luton and Bedford are unable to run for the time being.
Thameslink said rail replacement has been requested, but places are limited and wait times could be high. Some replacement buses have been resourced, including a bus running from St Albans to Hatfield with a journey time of around 45 minutes, and a bus on standby at Luton to run under the instruction of station staff. Journeys using replacement services and changes are likely to take an hour longer than usual.
Alternative routes for East Midlands Railway passengers
East Midlands Railway passengers are advised to use other stations to get to their destination. Journeys to Sheffield can be completed via a change in Doncaster with CrossCountry, TransPennine Express or Northern. Derby and Chesterfield can be reached by travelling to Birmingham New Street with CrossCountry and then catching a train to London Euston with LNR or Avanti.
Nottingham-bound passengers are advised to head to Grantham with East Midlands Railway before changing for a London King’s Cross train. Leicester can be reached from St Pancras by heading to Nuneaton on CrossCountry and changing for a London Euston Avanti or London Northwestern Railway train. All of the alternative travel options are available in both directions, and train operators are aware of the disruption, National Rail announced.
