Major disruption to Great Northern and Thameslink services between Finsbury Park and Stevenage expected until the end of the day 

Route(s) affected

Great Northern between London Kings Cross and Cambridge, and also between Moorgate and Welwyn Garden City / Stevenage

Thameslink between Brighton and Cambridge, and also between London Kings Cross and Peterborough

Description

A broken rail between Finsbury Park and Stevenage is causing disruption to Great Northern and Thameslink services running between these stations.

As a result, trains may be cancelled, delayed by up to 60 minutes or revised.

Major disruption is expected until the end of the day.

Customer advice:

Great Northern and Thameslink services are being severely disrupted between Finsbury Park and Stevenage due to a broken rail near Hatfield.

Teams are working with Network Rail to ensure this is repaired as quickly as possible, but this is taking some time.

This incident mainly affects the route via Welwyn Garden City. However, delays and possible changes are expected on the route via Hertford North as well.

There will also be disruption some distance away from the immediate area, including Thameslink and Great Northern services to / from Peterborough, Cambridge and Kings Lynn.

Please leave at least an extra hour to complete your journey.

Travelling today, 2 September, especially this morning:

At present, there is only a very limited London-bound service between Stevenage and Finsbury Park via Welwyn Garden City.

It is recommended that you delay travelling until later today, once trains and crews are in the right places and a more stable service can run.

There will still be changes to services all day. Trains which do run may be delayed.

The following alterations will take place:

• Trains from Welwyn Garden City towards Moorgate will run non-stop from Hatfield to New Barnet, to reduce congestion

• Trains between Kings Lynn / Ely and London Kings Cross will divert onto another route between Stevenage and London Kings Cross, taking around 20 minutes longer than usual

• Peak-time trains between Peterborough and London Kings Cross will be cancelled (Horsham services will still run)

• Peak-time trains between Welwyn Garden City and Sevenoaks will not run on the part of the route between Welwyn Garden City and London Blackfriars

These changes will particularly affect Knebworth, Welwyn North, Welwyn Garden City, Hatfield, Welham Green, Brookmans Park, Potters Bar, Hadley Wood, New Barnet, Oakleigh Park and New Southgate stations.

Journey planners are now up to date, and if there are any other "ad hoc" changes, live information will continue to be provided.

Alternative journey options this morning:

Some stations have alternative routes available, and it has been arranged for your tickets to be accepted where possible.

These alternatives may be much busier than usual due to the disruption on the network.

You may use your ticket at no extra cost on the following routes:

North of London:

• LNER services between Peterborough, Stevenage and London Kings Cross, where available (these trains will also be disrupted, and Thameslink will also accept LNER tickets on the Peterborough route, wherever possible)

• Greater Anglia services between Cambridge and Ely, and between London Liverpool Street and Cambridge

• CrossCountry services between Cambridge and Ely

• Thameslink services between Bedford, Luton, St Albans City and London (there will be NO replacement buses connecting the Bedford route and the Peterborough or Cambridge routes)

• Uno Buses on the following routes:

  • 601 between Welwyn Garden City, Hatfield, St Albans and Radlett

  • 602 between Hatfield, St Albans and Radlett

  • 610 between Luton, Harpenden, Welham Green, Brookmans Park and Potters Bar

  • 653 between St Albans, Hatfield and Welwyn Garden City

• Arriva Buses on the following routes:

  • 55 between Stevenage and Letchworth

  • 97 between Hitchin and Letchworth

  • 98 between Hitchin and Baldock

Some trains operated by other companies will also be affected by this disruption.

London area:

• London Buses on any reasonable route between Central London and Enfield / Potters Bar

• London Underground services on any reasonable route, including:

  • Northern line services between Central London and High Barnet

  • Piccadilly line services between Central London and Cockfosters

• London Overground services between London Liverpool Street and Enfield Town, and on any reasonable route via Highbury & Islington

• Greater Anglia services between London Liverpool Street and Hertford East

Replacement buses:

Great Northern and Thameslink are unable to provide replacement buses according to a timetable.

They have sent a small number of buses to major stations in the area, and local teams will use these to help as many people as possible. If there is an existing public transport route which covers your journey, it is recommended that you use this instead.

Tickets for yesterday will be valid today, 2 September:

You can use your ticket for yesterday on services today instead, but only once each route reopens.

You'll only be able to use your ticket in this way on trains which are operated by Southern, Gatwick Express, Thameslink and Great Northern. Please speak to other train companies if you need help travelling on their services.

Planning your journey:

You can check train departures from your station here:

• Great Northern live departure boards

• Thameslink live departure boards

You can view live maps of the network here:

• Great Northern live route map

• Thameslink live route map

You can also see alternative route guides here:

• Great Northern alternative route guide

• Thameslink alternative route guide

If you're travelling in the London area, you can plan journeys on alternative routes by using the TfL Journey Planner here.

Can you tell me more about the incident?

There is a broken rail on one of the two southbound lines in the Hatfield area. This was found by Network Rail teams yesterday, 1 September.

Staff are dealing with this as quickly as possible, but work to fully fix the defective rail will take a considerable amount of time. Work was started last night, but will now have to continue tonight as well. This means the affected line will remain closed today, and disruption will continue.

This means the affected line will remain closed today, and changes to services will continue.

The broken down train at Hadley Wood has since been moved, and this is no longer causing disruption.

Check before you travel:

You can check your journey using the National Rail Enquiries real-time Journey Planner.

For helpful advice if you need to travel on a rail replacement service, including accessibility information, please use our travel information pages.

You can find the location of your replacement bus by checking station signs or by searching for your station on our station information pages.

Compensation:

You may be entitled to compensation if you experience a delay in completing your journey today. Please keep your train ticket and make a note of your journey, as both will be required to support any claim.