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Train passengers are facing outage this morning as a “nationwide fault” affects. railway services over the network, National Rail warned.
“Trains across the network are having to start their journeys later due to this fault and some may also be subject to cancellations or changes,” it said.
The problems are expected to continue until at least noon.
The problem is related to the communication system used between the train driver and the signalman. A fault with the GSM-R system is “currently being investigated”, National Rail Questions they said.
GSM-R is designed to allow the driver and signalers to communicate digitally at all times, including the weather trains they are found in areas such as tunnels and deep cuts where previous analog systems did not work.
It was introduced to increase security and reduce costs by replacing inefficient legacy systems that were expensive to maintain.
According to National Rail, services affected include:
- Elizabeth line
- South Western Railway
- Gatwick Express
- Great Northern
- Southern
- Southeastern
- Thameslink
Spokesman for Network Rail said The Independent: “We have discovered a bug in the railway’s radio communication system that prevents it from automatically ‘logging in’.
Instead, a fallback manual check-in system is used which causes a few minutes of delay at the start of the day. When the system is up and running, it works normally, and the impact on passengers is minimal.”
Dozens of trains were affected. Particular problems affect London Waterloo, one of the three busiest stations in the UK. Trains to and from Salisbury and Yeovil have been canceled due to communication problems. Many other trains are 10 to 20 minutes late.
In a message to passengers, South Western Railway said: “This morning we have been informed of a national issue with our communications systems which is affecting the service. This means that trains can be delayed before they start their journey.
“This is because it is preventing our drivers from contacting the appropriate signaling center this morning and a reset has to be done before the train can start its journey.
At Heathrow Airport, a member of staff spoke of the disruption of the London Paddington Express service, which was blamed on “a problem with the security systems on board”.
Thameslink says people should “travel along your normal route, however delays and changes are possible”.
Scotrail previously said “services are subject to delay” but a spokesman has since said BBC News that “things are functioning normally”.
Travelers are advised to check that their services are working, allow more time for their journeys and monitor live departure boards.
Frustrated passengers have been sharing their misery on social media, with many complaining about their delays and others branding the service a “joke”, with little communication from train operators.