Thousands of commuters faced major disruption on Friday, 9 May 2025, after a points failure near Clapham Junction halted services in and out of London Victoria, cancelling Gatwick Express trains and impacting all Southern routes.
The disruption began early Friday morning, with National Rail advising passengers not to travel via London Victoria as services were heavily delayed or cancelled. The issue, caused by a points failure, affected the critical stretch between Clapham Junction and Victoria.
Timeline of Disruption:
- Morning: National Rail %%UKNIP_ANCHOR_0%% Victoria, citing severely reduced services.
- 5:00pm: Lines reopened, but major delays of up to 60 minutes and widespread %%UKNIP_ANCHOR_1%% continued.
- 6:00pm: Disruption extended, with Southern and Gatwick Express %%UKNIP_ANCHOR_2%%.
- 11:09pm: Disruption officially declared over and %%UKNIP_ANCHOR_3%% to normal.
Key Routes Affected:
- Gatwick Express (%%UKNIP_ANCHOR_4%% to Brighton)
- All Southern routes to and from %%UKNIP_ANCHOR_5%%
Passengers experienced delays of up to 60 minutes and over eight hours of disruption%%UKNIP_ANCHOR_6%% late in the evening.
Passenger Advice
A %%UKNIP_ANCHOR_7%% Rail spokesperson said:
"You should %%UKNIP_ANCHOR_8%% until further notice, as an extremely reduced and heavily delayed service is operating at this station."
The incident has once again raised concerns about the vulnerability of %%UKNIP_ANCHOR_9%% infrastructure, particularly in one of London's busiest commuter corridors.
Meta Description:
Gatwick Express and Southern trains cancelled on 9 May due to major points failure near Clapham %%UKNIP_ANCHOR_10%%. %%UKNIP_ANCHOR_11%% told not to travel.
Focus Keywords:
%%UKNIP_ANCHOR_12%%, Gatwick Express cancelled, Southern trains delayed, points failure Victoria, Clapham Junction rail issue
