Southern Rail: Emergency incident impacts trains in West Sussex

Southern Rail reported at 10.50pm on Monday (September 9) that the emergency services were ‘dealing with an incident’ on the railway between Chichester and Havant.

"As a result, the line towards Havant, is blocked,” a social media post read.

"If you are currently on a train that is not at a station and not moving, do NOT attempt to exit the train.

“We are aware of your location and working hard to get you back on the move as soon as possible.”

People were advised to ‘allow an extra hour’ to travel on Monday evening.

The train company gave a strong reminder to people that trespassing on the railway is ‘illegal, and highly dangerous’.

The incident affected trains running on these routes in the southbound direction; Brighton to Southampton and London Victoria to Portsmouth.

Whilst the disruption was ongoing, a spokesperson for Southern said: “Trains in their reverse directions may be delayed or altered so you should leave extra time to complete your journey.

"If you are travelling from Portsmouth/Southampton areas into London, or, the other way around, you may want to use an alternative route to complete your journey.

“Your ticket will be accepted on the below services at no extra cost. Journeys are being delayed by up to 60 minutes in this area and we have requested rail replacement buses as no local provisions are suffice for alternative routes.”

At 11pm, all lines had reopened and trains were ‘back on the move in this area’.

Southern added: “Trains running through this area in the south-west direction, may pick up new delays of around 15 minutes whilst we work to get trains back on schedule.

“This incident will affect trains until the end of service so in the instance you are travelling on the above routes tonight, please continue to leave extra time, check your train before you leave, and then again at the station.”

At 11.30pm, disruption caused by this incident had ended, with ‘no further trains being affected by this incident’.