Thursday 29 Jan 2015
Thameslink services to resume through central London tomorrow (Friday) following week of floods in tunnel
- Region & Route:
- | Southern
A full Thameslink train service will begin running between St Pancras and Farringdon again tomorrow morning (Friday) following flooding in a railway tunnel under Clerkenwell.
More than one million litres of water have been pumped from the tunnel in central London since a 16-inch Thames Water main burst last Friday and another series of leaks was discovered on Tuesday.
Some of Thameslink’s trains have been damaged by the floodwater which will lead to some shorter trains and possible cancellations.
Network Rail’s Route Managing Director Phil Verster said: “This has been a very difficult week for passengers and I can only apologise for the disruption. We have had joint teams working around the clock to address the impact of the floodwater, trying to keep trains moving. We are also working closely with Thames Water to investigate how such incidents can be managed in the future.
“We are now in a position to run trains again and will be working with Thameslink to bring a full service back for tomorrow morning.
“I am very grateful for passengers’ understanding and patience during this week.”
Stuart Cheshire, GTR’s Passenger Service Director for Thameslink, said: "We’re hugely relieved the tunnel is to open again. We’ll continue to run a reduced service today, however, we’ll do our best to make things better by running longer trains where possible
“We’ll plan to run the normal timetable tomorrow.”
Checks on Thameslink’s fleet show that water has damaged five of its 121-strong fleet trains with water in the axles and various electrical components. While not safety related, they have been taken out of service for repair which may lead to shorter trains and possible cancellations. Checks are now being carried out on the rest of the fleet.
Passengers can claim compensation for delays at thameslinkrailway.com/delayrepay.
For journey information please go to www.nationalrail.co.uk or www.thameslinkrailway.com
Notes to editors
Thameslink rail passengers, in particular those flying from Gatwick or Luton airports, should allow an hour longer to cross London from 11.45pm on Friday night (January 30) to the early hours of Monday morning, February 2.
Essential improvement work being carried out by Network Rail to improve the track and overhead lines between St Pancras and Kentish Town means there will be no Thameslink or East Midlands trains between West Hampstead Thameslink station and Farringdon in central London.
Thameslink trains from Sutton will run to and from London Blackfriars only and ongoing engineering works at Wimbledon mean there will be no trains between Wimbledon and Sutton.
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