The emergency services have completed their work following an earlier incident where a person was hit by a train. This has allowed all lines between London St Pancras International and Luton to reopen. Whilst service recovers, trains may still be delayed by up to 60 minutes, revised or cancelled.
Major disruption is expected until 17:00.
A visual disruption map video is available.
If you've been affected by what happened on the network today, there is always someone to talk to. You can contact the Samaritans on 116 123 from any phone for a confidential chat.
East Midlands Railway customer advice:
If you have an ‘Advance’ ticket which has been affected by this then you may use your original ticket at no extra cost on EMR trains after your original train time.
How do I get where I need to be?
Your ticket can be used at no extra cost to travel via the following alternative routes:
Sheffield:
You may travel to Doncaster with CrossCountry, TransPennine Express or Northern where you should change for a train to London Kings Cross. It is likely to take between 2 and 2.5 hours to complete this journey. LNER, who run the trains between Doncaster and London Kings Cross recommend booking a seat reservation. This can be done up to 5 minutes before the train departs on the LNER website. Visit the East Midlands Railway website for lots of useful information about what to expect when travelling via London Kings Cross.
Derby / Chesterfield:
You may travel to Birmingham New Street with CrossCountry where you should change for a train to London Euston with London Northwestern Railway or Avanti West Coast. It is likely to take between 2.5 and 3 hours to complete this journey. Visit the East Midlands Railway website for lots of useful information about what to expect when travelling via London Euston.
Nottingham:
You may travel to Grantham with EMR where you should change for a train to London Kings Cross. It is likely to take between 2 and 2.5 hours to complete this journey. LNER, who run the trains between Grantham and London Kings Cross recommend booking a seat reservation. This can be done up to 5 minutes before the train departs at the LNER website. Visit the East Midlands Railway website for lots of useful information about what to expect when travelling via London Kings Cross.
Leicester:
You may travel to Nuneaton with CrossCountry where you should change for a train to London Euston with Avanti West Coast or London Northwestern Railway. It is likely to take 2 hours to complete this journey. Visit the East Midlands Railway website for lots of useful information about what to expect when travelling via London Euston.
Travel between Wellingborough and London:
You can use your tickets to travel on our Bus Replacement service between Wellingborough and Northampton. From here you can take a London Northwestern train from Northampton to London Euston.
You can use your ticket to travel on trains between Corby and Kettering, and change here to travel to London on East Midlands Railway Intercity services.
Travel throughout London:
You may use your ticket at no extra cost on the London Underground between London St Pancras International / London Kings Cross / London Euston.
All of these alternative route options are available in the opposite direction too. Don’t worry about your ticket, other train operators know about the disruption to your journey and your ticket can be used at no extra cost on their trains.
If you need to start your outward journey from a different operator's station due to this disruption, then you will also be able to travel back to that station when you return, regardless of if the disruption has ended or your ticket type. Rail industry colleagues will welcome you on board with your original ticket.
Thameslink customer advice:
All lines have reopened between West Hampstead Thameslink, St Albans City, Luton and Bedford, however, significant disruption is continuing and it will take some time until trains resume running normally.
Due to the lines being closed earlier today, trains and drivers are no longer in the right places to run their scheduled journeys. This means that even though the railway has reopened, services will still be cancelled, altered or delayed.
If you are travelling now, it may still take around 60 minutes longer than usual to arrive at your destination, so if you do travel, please allow plenty of extra time.
Travelling between Bedford and Brighton:
To travel between Luton and London, you can continue to use alternative Thameslink services between St Pancras and Stevenage, connecting between Stevenage and Luton with Arriva buses. If you are travelling between London and Brighton, you can use alternative Thameslink services between Peterborough and Horsham or Cambridge and Brighton.
Travelling between St Albans and Wimbledon / Sutton:
You can use Great Northern services between Hatfield and London, connecting between Hatfield and St Albans with Arriva Buses.
If you are travelling between London and Sutton, you can use alternative Southern services between London Victoria / London Bridge and Sutton.
If you are travelling between London and Wimbledon, you can use alternative South Western Railway services between London Waterloo and Wimbledon.
If you are travelling between Wimbledon and Sutton, you can use alternative London Buses.
Travelling between Luton and Rainham:
These services will run between Dartford and Rainham only.
If you are travelling between Dartford and London, please use alternative Southeastern services between Dartford and London or Elizabeth line service between Farringdon and Abbey Wood. To travel between Luton and London, please use alternative Thameslink services between St Pancras and Stevenage, connecting between Stevenage and Luton with Arriva Buses.
Ticket acceptance:
Tickets will be accepted at no extra cost on the following operators and routes:
North of London:
- Great Northern: Via any reasonable route (please note Great Northern is running an amended timetable today with rail replacement buses in operation due to planned engineering work)
- London Northwestern Railway: Between London Euston and Watford Junction, and on the Abbey Line between Watford Junction and St Albans Abbey
- Avanti West Coast: Between London Euston and Watford Junction
- East Midlands Railway: Between London St Pancras and Bedford
- London Overground: Between London Euston and Watford Junction, and to/from West Hampstead
- London Buses: On any reasonable route between Central London and the Elstree & Borehamwood area
- Arriva Buses:
- A / Z / X1 / X2 / X3 between Luton Airport, Luton Airport Parkway (Kimpton Road) and Luton Town
- 4 / 4A / 23/ 27 / 28 between Leagrave Station and Luton Town
- 302 between St Albans, Hatfield, and Welwyn Garden City
- 321 between Luton, Harpenden, and St Albans, and then on to Watford Junction
- 724 between St Albans City and Hatfield, Welwyn Garden City, and Hertford North, and also on to Watford Junction
- 725 between St Albans City and Hatfield, Welwyn Garden City, and Knebworth, and also on to Watford Junction
- 100 / 101 between Luton, Hitchin, and Stevenage
- 301 between St Albans, Hatfield, Welwyn Garden City, Knebworth and Stevenage
- 302 between St Albans, Hatfield, and Welwyn Garden City
- Uno Buses:
- 602 between Radlett (Recreational Ground), St Albans City and Hatfield
- 610 between Luton Town Centre, Harpenden and Hatfield
- 653 between St Albans, Hatfield and Welwyn Garden City
Within London:
- London Underground: Via any reasonable route, including between London Terminals and to/from Kentish Town and West Hampstead
- London Buses: Across Central London connecting Thameslink terminals
- Elizabeth line: Between Farringdon and Abbey Wood
South of London:
- Southern: Via any reasonable route, including between London, East Croydon, Gatwick Airport, and Brighton
- Gatwick Express: Between London Victoria and Gatwick Airport
- South Western Railway: Between London Waterloo, Clapham Junction, and Wimbledon
- London Trams: Between East Croydon and Wimbledon
- London Buses: On any reasonable route between Central London and Wimbledon
Replacement buses are en route:
Replacement buses are operating on the following routes:
- St Albans to Hatfield with a journey time of around 45 minutes. These are being supplied by Richard Taylors
- Luton standby bus to run under station instruction being supplied by Britannia
Two further standby buses have been organised, which will be running under station instruction at Bedford and Luton. These will be supplied by Airsym and are estimated to arrive between 16:30 and 17:00.
Planning your journey:
For help planning your journey, check live departure boards, view a live network map or see alternative route guides.
If you’re travelling within London, you can use the TfL Journey Planner.
Stay up to date on the move with Thameslink's WhatsApp channel. Live updates are available Monday to Friday, 07:00–21:00.
Ticket flexibility:
If your train is cancelled, you will be able to travel on an alternative service operated by any other participating train company, either two hours before or two hours after the original departure time of the cancelled service, in order to reach your destination.
If you decide not to travel or cannot complete your journey due to cancellations, you are entitled to a full refund from your original point of sale.
For further information and guidance please contact your train company or speak to a member of railway staff.
Check before you travel:
You can check your journey using the National Rail real-time Journey Planner.
For helpful advice if you need to travel on a rail replacement service, including accessibility and bicycle information, please use our Rail Replacement Services page.
You can find the pick-up and drop-off location of rail replacement services by checking station signage or by searching for your station on our Find a Station page.
Please be advised that replacement vehicles may be busier than usual, and you should allow extra time for your journey.
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.
Last updated: 4:13 PM
