Victoria and London Bridge main line commuters experienced long delays due to a major signalling problem, causing disruption throughout the morning peak hours as Packed First Capital Connect (FCC) and Southern services suffered almost 30 minute-delays.

The signalling problems between Wivelsfield and Gatwick Airport left trains line up behind one another on the Brighton line. Unconnected power supply problems between Ashford and Maidstone East led to delays in peak time for Southeastern services between Ashford International and Victoria via Swanley.

A Network Rail (NR) engineer discovered a problem affecting three signals on the main “up” line to London shortly before 5 am. Repairs were carried out and completed by 8.15 am - but knock-on delays continued. The problem resulted in 40 trains affected with 10 cancelled.

An NR spokesman said, “We repaired the fault as soon as possible and we apologise to passengers for delays they suffered this morning.”

It may be noted that Victoria and London Bridge commuters experienced inconvenience last month when a train broke down on a busy stretch of the line at Balcombe due to late night repair work by Network Rail’s engineering unit at Wareham. First Capital Connect (FCC,) Southern and Gatwick Express services were affected.

And just when the passengers thought their inconvenience ended, a massive makeover of the Victoria and London Bridge station worth £700  million began which caused chaos due to disruptions, despite station managers assuring that the disruptions would be minimal and the Underground tickets having been made available in advance to the commuters.

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