TRAINS are being delayed and cancelled after several incidents on the Brighton Main Line.

Seretween Brighton and East Croydon are being affected with disruption expected until 9.30pm.

A Southern Rail spokesman warned that trains could be delayed by up to 30 minutes.

He said: "A signalling problem has occurred just south of Purley, near Stoats Nest Junction.

"This has been causing significant delays for a number of northbound Southern, Thameslink and Gatwick Express services.

"A number of Thameslink services via Gatwick Airport, Redhill, Purley and East Croydon are being reduced in number, in order to prevent long queues of trains in the area.

"Some Southern and Gatwick Express services are also reduced.

"Although the signalling problem is affecting one of the northbound lines in the area, this will also cause some southbound services to be affected during the course of the evening.

"The earlier points failure at Preston Park has been rectified, but this caused a number of delays earlier.

"This mainly affected trains from Brighton towards London."

Some rail replacement buses have been put in place.

The spokesman said: "Southern and Thameslink have sent replacement buses to operate in the Redhill and Gatwick Airport areas.

"Our bus operators are Crawley Luxury and Southern Transit.

"Station staff are directing these buses to cover for train cancellations."

The company also issued advice for customers.

It said rail tickets will be valid on Thameslink and Southern services on any reasonable route, METROBUS services between Brighton, Gatwick Airport and Redhill, Brighton and Hove buses between Shoreham-by-Sea, Brighton and Lewes and between Brighton and Tunbridge Wells, and on Tube services.

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