Tens of thousands of commuters across southern England faced a day of significant rail disruption after a fault with the radio communications system used by train drivers and signallers caused widespread cancellations and delays across six major networks — with passengers urged to avoid Waterloo station entirely at the height of the chaos.
South Western Railway, Southern, Thameslink, CrossCountry, Gatwick Express and London Overground services were all affected after the fault emerged on Thursday morning, with Waterloo — one of the busiest stations in Europe — particularly hard hit. The disruption was then compounded by a separate and unrelated signalling problem near Wandsworth Town, which further hampered efforts to restore normal services.
Lawrence Bowman, Managing Director of Network Rail Wessex Route and South Western Railway, issued a public apology on X. “I’m very sorry for the ongoing disruption following an earlier problem with the radio communications system used by signallers and train drivers,” he said. “Service recovery has been further hindered by an unrelated signalling problem near Wandsworth Town this afternoon.”
SWR and Network Rail Wessex confirmed in a joint statement that the issue had been resolved, but warned that services would “take some time to return to normal operations.” The National Rail website said the fault was fixed at 11am, but cautioned that some services could still be delayed by up to 90 minutes or cancelled, with major disruption expected to persist until the end of the day.
Southern’s operator Govia Thameslink Railway, which also runs Thameslink, Great Northern and Gatwick Express, said disruption would last into the afternoon, while Gatwick Express warned services were likely to terminate at Brighton rather than running their full route to Hayward Heath.
Passengers whose tickets could not be used on their normal services were advised they could travel at no extra cost on the London Underground, including the Piccadilly line between Hounslow West and Green Park, the Jubilee line between Green Park and Waterloo, and the District line from Wimbledon, Richmond or East Putney.
SWR subsequently confirmed that the signalling problem between Wandsworth Town and Putney had been resolved, saying in a passenger update: “Trains are now running normally following a signalling problem between Wandsworth Town and Putney and there should be no further delays to your journey.”
Passengers delayed by 15 minutes or more are entitled to claim compensation through the Delay Repay scheme. Thameslink confirmed on X that affected passengers should apply for Delay Repay if they were delayed at their destination by 15 minutes or more.
The disruption fell on local election day, with polling stations open across England, Scotland and Wales — adding pressure on commuters attempting to vote before or after work.
