Southern Rail: Lines reopen following 'severe' points failure in West Sussex

All lines have reopened following the earlier points failure in Billingshurst, Southern Rail confirmed.

The failure meant trains were unable to call at Crawley, Christ's Hospital, Billingshurst, Pulborough, Amberley and Arundel railway stations.

A Southern Rail spokesperson said: “Trains can now run through the area again, but must do so at a reduced speed on approach to Billingshurst in both directions as a safety precaution.

“Because trains and crews are out of position following the earlier line closure, services may still be subject to delays of up to 30 minutes, short-notice alterations, or cancellations as we work to restore our normal timetable.

“Some services scheduled to run to Portsmouth Harbour will now terminate and restart at Barnham instead.

“If you are travelling to or from stations between Barnham and Portsmouth, alternative train services, including services running to and from Brighton, are operating along this route to help you reach your destination. Please check station screens or journey planners for connecting trains.”

Network Rail sent staff to the site of the points failure ‘as a priority’ earlier this evening.

The Southern Rail spokesperson added: “Points can stop moving correctly for a number of reasons. For example, there may be an obstruction in the moving parts, or the electronic control systems may have developed a fault.

“There are various backup systems which allow signallers to try to ‘set’ the points, and in some cases, the points may be available for trains in one of the directions they serve, but not another.

"However, with more severe failures like this one, the route is blocked entirely.

"Network Rail sent their specialist Signalling & Telecoms teams to the site as a priority to set up a safe method of working on the track.

"Once safe access was established, engineers diagnosed and resolved the issue.”