West Sussex rail delays explained as fault reoccurs for fourth time in five days

Cancellations and delays of up to an hour have been reported in West Sussex due to a signalling fault this afternoon (Wednesday, April 10).

A Southern Rail statement shortly after 1pm read: “Response teams are back on site working to rectify the fault.

“Services are still affected by the fault with the signalling system.

“We now expect services to be amended until the end of service today.

“Please plan ahead. Ticket acceptance [on bus and alternative railway routes] will remain in place until the end of the day.”

Southern Rail reported at 4.50am on Friday (April 5) that a ‘points failure’ between Chichester and Portsmouth meant services were being cancelled, delayed and altered.

This part of the network uses track circuits to detect the position of trains. These are electrical systems which monitor whether a train is on a section of track. When a track circuit fails, the signalling system will interpret this as a train remaining in place, even though there may not be a train present at all, or the previous service may have long since left the area.

This was rectified by 7am on Friday but reoccurred at 4am on Tuesday (April 9). The problem was once again fixed by 7am.

However, the signalling system between Chichester and Portsmouth Harbour was once again ‘affecting some services’ at 8.45am on Tuesday.

It was again fixed at 2pm – but has reoccurred yet again in the early hours of today (April 10).

A social media statement read: “Southern services which usually run between London Victoria and Portsmouth & Southsea.

"Southbound services from London Victoria will continue to divide at Horsham. The part of the train which usually runs to Portsmouth & Southsea will continue to Barnham and Chichester, where it will terminate.

“The other part of the train will continue to be a stopping service from Horsham to Bognor Regis, as usual.

"Northbound services from Chichester will call at Barnham, Horsham only and then the normal stations to London Victoria.

“There will continue to be the usual stopping services departing from Bognor Regis as well.

“Southern services which usually run between either Brighton or Littlehampton and Portsmouth:

“There will also be some cancellations on these routes, but most services will run. Where trains continue to operate, there will be minor delays of around 5-10 minutes in the Hilsea area.

"Please continue to check your journey using online journey planners or station departure boards for those who are already travelling.

Please note that if your are using an alterative route or service, you will need to allow up to 30-45 minutes of extra time to complete your journey.”