Delays across the railways due to signalling failure

Update 11:05am: Network Rail says that the fault with their railway radio system in England and Wales has been traced to one of their major hubs near Stoke and a fix is underway. Most services should be back to normal by lunchtime.

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There is a serious fault affecting mainline railways and leading to delays and cancellations mainly across the southeast of England.

Network Rail said that a fault with the communication system used between train drivers and signallers is causing the problems. This is understood to be the GSM-R radio network that connects trains to the signalling systems.

As a result, services across the National Rail network may be subject to delays this morning.

An update from Network Rail at 9am said that the problem is mainly affecting trains on some routes leaving the depot to start their service. However, trains can run normally once they are underway, so it’s likely that the delays and cancellations will reduce later this morning.

South Western Railway, Gatwick Express, Great Northern, Southern, Southeastern and Thameslink services are all currently affected. Trains across the network are having to start their journeys later because of this fault and some may also be subject to short-notice cancellations or alterations.

The problems aren’t affecting London Underground services, but they may affect some Elizabeth line services west of London. There is also an unrelated problem on the London Overground’s Mildmay and Suffragette lines this morning due to a fault at Gospel Oak.