'Thousands' stranded at London Victoria amid signal failure

Carnage as ‘thousands’ trying to get home during Friday’s rush hour are stranded at London Victoria amid major signal failure as Network Rail say no trains can run in or out of station and delays will continue into the night

• Furious passengers have been told to seek another way out of the capital 
• It comes ahead of strike action by tens of thousands of rail workers this month

Commuters are facing major disruption as they desperately try to get home for the weekend, with signal failures at a London station seeing ‘thousands’ stranded.

No trains have been going into or leaving Victoria station due a ‘complete signal failure’, National Rail said this evening, with delays expected to last into the night.

Pictures have shown dozens of passengers stuck at the station with no way home, as well as all empty departures boards with no updates.

Furious passengers say they have been told to seek another way out of the capital, with knock-on effects to southeastern services at the peak of rush hour.

Disruption for travelers is expected to last until 21.00 tonight, National Rail has said, adding that trains may be ‘cancelled, delayed or revised’.

Travellers’ misery is expected to worsen as strike action by tens of thousands of rail workers is on its way.

Pictures have shown dozens of passengers stuck at London Victoria station with no way home

Empty departures boards have been showing no updates amid the ‘complete signal failure’

Travellers at London Victoria faced misery during Friday rush hour as they desperately tried to get home for the weekend

One passenger claimed ‘thousands’ have been left stranded as they headed home from work tonight amid the major signal failure, which engineers are working to fix.

Southeastern rail said that two of its trains, which had been bound for Victoria from Gillingham and Dartford, were stuck outside the station. They have now been moved. It added that none of its trains can run in or out of Victoria.

The operator explained: ‘A fault with the signalling system was reported at London Victoria earlier today. Network Rail response staff have been onsite since 15:00 working to fix the fault.

‘Around 18:00, the signalling fault worsened and is now affecting all platforms at the station.

‘Network Rail staff remain onsite working to fix the fault.’

It comes ahead of strikes in the coming week, which will see people’s journeys disrupted across the country.

The RMT has announced that 20,000 workers will go on strike across three separate days later in the month, accusing train operators of failing to make a new pay offer to attempt to resolve the issues.

READ MORE: Train strikes July 2023: Full list of dates as commuters brace for more travel chaos 

This will see rail services disrupted across Britain on 20, 22 and 29 July, coinciding with most schools in the UK breaking up for summer holidays from July 21. 

The strikes also fall on dates of some of the summer’s biggest sporting events.

The prestigious golf tournament – The Open Championship – is taking place at Royal Liverpool from July 16 to July 23. 

Spectators travelling to the fourth and fifth Ashes Tests – at Old Trafford and The Oval respectively – could also have to contend with disruption.

Amid the travel chaos at Victoria station tonight, National Rail has been keeping passengers updated via Twitter.

A Network Rail spokesperson said: ‘We are really sorry to passengers experiencing disruption on Southeastern services this evening in and out of London Victoria station. 

‘Our team of engineers are currently investigating a fault with the signalling equipment in the area which is effecting lines that serve the Southeastern platforms at the station. 

‘While we work to fix this fault passengers are advised to check National Rail Enquiries for updates and ticket acceptance on other routes.’ 

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