The railway experienced significant disruptions on Thursday due to multiple signal failures affecting trains traveling between London and Luton, as reported by National Rail. East Midlands Railway (EMR) services were particularly impacted, with operations in and out of St Pancras being hindered. These issues resulted in substantial delays, exemplified by a Thameslink train bound for London Luton Airport being almost two hours behind schedule.
National Rail warned of ongoing cancellations and severe delays expected to persist until the conclusion of Wednesday. EMR also indicated that minor disruptions were forecasted until 10:00 GMT on Thursday due to the continuation of necessary signaling system work, slated for overnight implementation.
The genesis of the fault was linked to Christmas engineering efforts aimed at the installation of a new signal controlling system. Gary Walsh, the route director, expressed remorse about the inconvenience caused to passengers due to the engineering work, acknowledging, “There is a fault with part of the signaling control system which means we need to reduce the number of trains which are able to run.”
Consequently, Thameslink advised passengers against traveling between Bedford and London Bridge until further notice, recommending a delay in travel plans. National Rail also offered guidance and alternative travel options for affected passengers on its website, cautioning that a signaling system fault between St Albans and London St Pancras International could result in cancellations or delays of up to 60 minutes, with major disruptions expected to persist until the end of the day.
Further complicating matters were the disruptions caused by Storm Gerrit, resulting in flooding and subsequent train service disruptions in Scotland and the North of England. The flooding obstructed all railway services between Carlisle in Cumbria and Lockerbie in Scotland, with impacts also felt in parts of north-east England.
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