There is major disruption to train services in and out of London on Sunday, after damage to overhead lines blocked a number of key lines.
The damage, which was sustained between Peterborough and Stevenage, means that several services to and from London King’s Cross have been cancelled, while others are experiencing delays of more than an hour.
The disruption, which is expected to last until the end of the day, comes amid ongoing impacts on schedules caused by two train derailments in 24 hours this week.
The first such incident occurred on Thursday, when two people were seriously injured after a train derailed near Lewes in East Sussex.
British Transport Police (BTP) declared a major incident, as three carriages derailed on their side, trapping passengers on board the Southern train.
The train, which was travelling from London Victoria to Eastbourne with around 150 people on board, was safely evacuated.
The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) are investigating to establish what caused the incident, and Network Rail engineers and specialist teams are assessing the damage and identifying the work needed before trains can safely run again.
As a result, trains are still unable to run between Lewes and Haywards Heath, with all services cancelled until further notice.
On Friday afternoon, a second derailment occurred near Wickford in Essex.
The Greater Anglia train, which was running from Southend Victoria to London Liverpool Street, came off the tracks in Wickford at 2.12pm on Friday, with around 45 passengers on board.
BTP confirmed that there were no reported injuries.
Following the incident, lines remain closed and trains running on the route between London Liverpool Street and Southend Victoria are cancelled in full or revised to run on only part of their normal route until further notice.
The Southminster branch line has also been affected, and services are currently unable to run between Wickford and Southminster, with limited rail replacement buses operating between these stations.
Routes affected by the disruption on Sunday:
- Grand Central between Sunderland / Bradford Interchange / Halifax and London Kings Cross
- Great Northern between Peterborough and London Kings Cross
- Hull Trains between Beverley / Hull and London Kings Cross
- LNER between Aberdeen / Edinburgh / Newcastle / York / Harrogate / Skipton / Bradford Forster Square / Leeds / Lincoln and London Kings Cross
- Lumo between Glasgow Queen Street / Edinburgh / Newcastle and London Kings Cross
- Thameslink between Peterborough and London Kings Cross
