Train commuters face rush hour chaos due to Thameslink failure

Thursday, October 3, 2019

Thameslink, the central spine  of the cross-London line was closed to all passenger trains leaving tens of thousands of commuters to endure another dreadful rush hour.

Usually 40 services per hour is being handled by the line between London St Pancras and Blackfriars which trains converge from from Kent, Sussex, Surrey and south London, and running through to Bedford, Peterborough and Cambridge.

After a ceramic insulator broke  sparks were reported which was noted in the early hours of the morning by a train driver passing through City Thameslink station.

In the incident signaling equipment and overhead wires were also damaged.

Thameslink train switch from ‘third-rail’ power in the City Thameslink station which is used for the southern part of the network and more conventional overhead wires.

Shortly after 8 am the trains were moving but it came too late to rescue the journeys for tens of thousands of commuters.

As per the organisation the infrastructure was now fixed and trains were being reintroduced gradually. This was done as  trains were backed up until the railways was fixef and bringing all the services back instantly would have caused huge congestion.

All 10 trains from Cambridge to Brighton scheduled between 4.30 am and 10 am were cancelled and subsequent services heavily delayed.

After the rush hour was wiped out the train operators mentioned that due to multiple incidents at City Thameslink and London Blackfriars yesterday evening the power was switched off to the railway lines between London St Pancras International and London Blackfriars.

Overnight and early morning services were suspended today. The Thameslink trains are now resuming through Central London, but services will remain severely disrupted for some time.

The train operator mentioned that replacement buses were deployed to Redhill, Three Bridges, Horsham and Haywards Heath to cover train service gaps at the smaller stations.

Luton and Gatwick airport  is also connected by Thameslink with central London and with each other.

The alternative rail connection from Victoria is being availed by the travellers between London and Gatwick airports might face disruptions caused by what the train operator stated as a number of incidents between London Victoria and East Croydon.

There were flooding in the Clapham Junction area, a broken-down train at Norbury and a platform closure at Victoria after a passenger was taken ill.

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