Major rail disruption in West Sussex: No trains running between Crawley and Three Bridges due to points failure, congestion likely between Haywards Heath and Gatwick Airport, no service at a number of West Sussex stations

The points failure means some lines are blocked. As a result, trains running through this station may be cancelled, delayed by up to 20 minutes or revised.

Southern have confirmed that there will be no service at Crawley, Ifield, Faygate, Littlehaven, Christ’s Hospital, Billingshurst, Pulborough, Amberley and Arundel stations.

A statement on Southern’s website said: “We've recently been told about a points failure at Three Bridges, blocking the lines through Platforms 1, 2 & 3. Southern and Thameslink are working to get more information for you.

“A number of trains on different routes are being affected and your journey is likely to be delayed, but we don't have an exact estimate for this at the moment.

“No trains can run between Crawley and Three Bridges, and there is likely to be congestion between Haywards Heath and Gatwick Airport. The following service plan is in place.

“Services that normally run between Peterborough and Horsham will terminate at Three Bridges and start back from there.

“Services that normally run between London Victoria and Bognor / Portsmouth, via Horsham, will now run via Hove.

“The following stations will have no service: Crawley, Ifield, Faygate, Littlehaven, Christ’s Hospital, Billingshurst, Pulborough, Amberley, Arundel.”

Your ticket will be accepted on the following, at no extra cost:

– Mutually on Thameslink and Southern trains

– London Underground between terminating stations

– Metrolink on any reasonable route between Redhill, Gatwick Airport, Three Bridges, Haywards Heath and Horsham.

Southern said the disruption is expected to last until 4pm.

A Southern spokesperson added: “At the moment, Southern and Thameslink are working with our colleagues at Network Rail to assess the situation.

“A points failure has been reported, and this is preventing trains from using some of the routes through this area.

“Points are moveable sections of track which can send trains onto different routes at junctions. These are part of the signalling system, generally managed by Network Rail.

“Points can stop moving correctly for a number of reasons. For example, there may be an obstruction in the moving parts, or the electronic control systems may have developed a fault.

“There are various backup systems which allow signallers to try to "set" the points, and in some cases, the points may be available for trains in one of the directions they serve, but not another. However, with more severe failures, the line in question may be blocked entirely.

“Network Rail will send their specialist Signalling & Telecoms teams to site, and they will set up a safe method of working on the track. To allow staff to access the railway, sometimes we have to stop trains completely, which can lead to your train being held at stations or signals en route.

“As soon as it's safe to go on the line, the staff will diagnose the fault and find any quick solutions to resolve it. Whilst this is being done, we will be monitoring progress closely. At times, replacement parts may be needed, or specialist advice from suppliers, which is why some points failures take longer to resolve than others.”

You can check your journey using the National Rail Enquiries real-time Journey Planner.