Freight breakdown causes major disruption on rail

A broken down freight train near Gatwick Airport caused major disruption to commuter services this morning.

It broke down during the night between Gatwick and Salfords delaying First Capital Connect (FCC,) First Great Western (FGW,) Gatwick Express and Southern services during the morning peak.

Gatwick Express services between the airport and Victoria were halved and ran every 30 minutes.

FGW trains were suspended between Redhill and Gatwick; FCC and Southern trains were delayed by up to 20 minutes.

Disruption lasted throughout the morning peak.

The heavy freighter, carrying aggregates bound for Somerset, came to a stop at 4.30am blocking the main Brighton line to London.

Network Rail (NR) sent a rescue loco from Hither Green to tow it out of the way. It arrived at around 6.30am.

An NR spokesman said: “We apologise to passengers for the delays they suffered this morning.

“We acted as quickly as possible to get passenger services running to schedule again.”