Passengers across southern England warned of ‘major’ delays after radio fault

South Western Railway warned that services across its entire network may be ‘cancelled, delayed by up to 90 minutes or revised’
Train services across southern England are being disrupted following a fault with a radio system.

National Rail Enquiries said the issue relates to how train drivers and signallers communicate.

It warned passengers that services may be delayed by up to 45 minutes or cancelled, and “major disruption is expected until the end of the day”.

The affected operators are CrossCountry , Gatwick Express , Great Western Railway , London Overground, Southern, South Western Railway (SWR) and Thameslink.

The incident was reported shortly before 9am on Thursday.

SWR warned that services across its entire network “may be cancelled, delayed by up to 90 minutes or revised”.

It went on: “Our operations and engineering teams are working with signallers to find and fix the fault.

“We do not have an ETA (estimated time of arrival) yet for when signalling will be back to normal.”
The operator advised passengers to consider using buses “while the fault is being investigated”.

National Rail: Disruption towards Haywards Heath expected until 1pm
National Rail has said disruption towards Haywards Heath is expected until 1pm.

The operator said passengers can travel on the following lines at no additional cost:
'Very rare' radio fault responsible for today's delays also happened in 2024
The radio fault that took train lines down this morning also occurred in December 2024.

The nationwide fault was linked to faulty GSM-R radio systems, which allow communication between train drivers and signal operators.

Widespread delays also took place in 2024 as a consequence of the radio fault.

Speaking to Sky News during the 2024 disruption, railway journalist Nigel Harris said the fault was "very, very rare" and something he had not experienced in 40 years of working in the industry.

Mapped: Disruption across train lines
What are your rights if your train is cancelled or delayed?

Train journeys are often disrupted, as we can see from today’s travel chaos with South Western Railway .

Passengers who are caught up with long delays and cancellations are entitled to a partial refund – or the full cost of the ticket for a really long delay.

But the rules are complex and change from one train operator to another.

And Eurostar , which runs trains from London to Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam, has a quite different policy on delays.

Travel correspondent Simon Calder has the key questions and answers:
What are your rights if a train is cancelled or delayed?

Gatwick Express: Radio fault incident 'resolved' but delays and cancellations remain
Gatwick Express has said the fault with the radio system “has now been resolved” but services can still expect delays or cancellations.

A statement on their website said: "The fault with the radio system between the driver and the signaller that is affecting services on the South England network has now been resolved.

Some services may still be delayed by up to 90 minutes or cancelled whilst service recovers.

“Major disruption is expected until the end of the day.”
What is the fault causing the disruption across train services?

Train services across southern England are being disrupted by a fault with a radio system.

South Western Railway warns services affected across 'entire network'
South Western Railway warned that services across its entire network “may be cancelled, delayed by up to 90 minutes or revised”.

It said: “Our operations and engineering teams are working with signallers to find and fix the fault.

Which train companies are affected?

The affected operators are CrossCountry, Gatwick Express, Great Western Railway, London Overground, Southern, South Western Railway (SWR) and Thameslink.

BREAKING: Train passengers across southern England warned of ‘major disruption’
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