Southern Rail: Points failure causes widespread train disruption in West Sussex
Rail passengers across West Sussex faced disruption for much of the day, after a points failure near Littlehampton caused delays, cancellations and revised Southern services.
The issue was first reported shortly before midday on Wednesday (May 13), with Southern warning that trains running in and out of Littlehampton could be delayed or altered while engineers investigated the fault.
As disruption worsened, Southern suspended the shuttle service between Barnham and Bognor Regis in an effort to reduce congestion across the network. Services towards Littlehampton were also forced to terminate early at either Worthing or Barnham, leaving passengers facing reduced services through the affected area.
To help stranded travellers complete their journeys, rail tickets were temporarily accepted on local bus routes, including the Stagecoach 500 service between Littlehampton, Barnham and Chichester, and the Stagecoach 701 route between Worthing and Littlehampton.
Passengers were advised to leave at least 30 minutes extra for journeys and to continue checking station screens and journey planners for updates throughout the afternoon.
By early afternoon, all lines in and out of Littlehampton had reopened, allowing trains to begin running normally again. However, Southern warned that delays and alterations would continue while services and train crews were repositioned.
The operator later confirmed disruption was expected to continue until around 3.30pm, when the Barnham to Bognor Regis shuttle service resumed.
In a final update, issued at 3.20pm, Southern confirmed the incident had ended and normal services had been restored. Passengers delayed by more than 15 minutes were advised they could apply for compensation through the operator’s Delay Repay scheme: https://www.southernrailway.com/help-and-support/delay-repay-compensation