Southern delays set to last all day after broken rail sparks travel misery

Damage: The broken rail near East Croydon station
Network Rail
Hatty Collier5 December 2016

Southern commuters were hit by fresh travel misery after a broken rail on the tracks near one of south London’s busiest stations sparked delays.

Rail passengers travelling via East Croydon station were warned to expect disruption until the end of service on Monday.

Those using Southern, Thameslink and Gatwick Express services between East Croydon and Gatwick Airport were told to expect cancellations and delays of up to 30 minutes.

The disruption came the day before Southern services were set to be hit by strike action.

Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union on Southern plan to strike for three days from Tuesday in protest at changes to the role of conductors.

The drivers' union Aslef is due to start an overtime ban on Southern from Tuesday ahead of strikes later in the month and in the new year in a row over driver-only trains.

Network Rail posted a picture of the broken rail on Twitter and said engineers were on site working to repair the damage.

It said in a statement: “A broken rail between East Croydon and Gatwick Airport is causing disruption to journeys between these stations.

“Network Rail are on site working to fix the rail, and while they do so, train services running through these stations may be cancelled, delayed by up to 30 minutes or revised. Disruption is expected until the end of the day.”

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