Damage to the overhead electric wires between Potters Bar and New Barnet is causing disruption to journeys between Stevenage and Finsbury Park via Potters Bar. Trains may be cancelled, delayed or revised.

Disruption is expected until the end of the day.

Advice for Great Northern and Thameslink customers:

During overnight engineering works, a structure which supports the overhead electric wires was damaged near Hadley Wood.

All lines are currently shut, although we expect some of them to reopen shortly. One of the two London-bound lines, however, will be closed during the day.

Please check before you travel and leave extra time if your journey is affected. This location is between Potters Bar and New Barnet, and disruption will affect trains as follows:

Until approximately 06:30:

Trains will be unable to operate between Stevenage and Alexandra Palace on the route through Welwyn Garden City.

This means there will be no trains calling at Welwyn North, Welwyn Garden City, Hatfield, Welham Green, Brookmans Park, Potters Bar, Hadley Wood, New Barnet, Oakleigh Park or New Southgate.

Where possible, trains will divert onto the route through Hertford North, but there will be some short-notice cancellations.

We have arranged for local alternative routes to accept rail tickets, so please see below for options.

If you can't use an alternative route for your journey, please speak to station staff (where available), contact us on social media 24/7, or push the green Emergency button on the station Help Point.

We will provide a rail replacement taxi if you can't complete your journey in another way, although there may be a wait for a vehicle to become available.

After 06:30:

Great Northern

Welwyn Garden City to Moorgate:

Trains towards Moorgate will be unable to call at Hadley Wood or New Barnet until repairs are completed, and there will also be some delays on this route

Peterborough, Kings Lynn, Ely or Cambridge to London Kings Cross (route shared with Thameslink):

Some minor delays to these services can be expected. We'll update you if further changes are needed.

Thameslink

Peterborough to Horsham, and Cambridge to Brighton:

Some minor delays to these services can also be expected. We'll update you if further changes are needed.

Ticket acceptance on alternative routes:

You can use your Thameslink or Great Northern ticket the following routes at no extra cost:

• London Underground services on any reasonable route, including the Northern and Piccadilly Lines between North and Central London
• TfL Buses between Potters Bar, Barnet, Alexandra Palace, Finsbury Park and either Kings Cross or Moorgate (you may also use services to & from Hadley Wood when they resume from mid-morning)
• Greater Anglia services between Cambridge and London Liverpool Street
• LNER services between Peterborough, Stevenage and London Kings Cross (you will need to make a seat reservation with LNER to travel with them)
• Arriva Buses on route 724 via Welwyn Garden City and Hatfield

Thameslink and Great Northern will accept each other's tickets, as well as LNER tickets.

Tickets for this area will be accepted on alternative Thameslink services between Bedford and London St Pancras International, but you will need to make your own way to & from this route.

An alternative route guide can be found here.

Can you tell me more about the incident?

This incident occurred just after 02:30 during scheduled maintenance work on the East Coast Mainline. Work was immediately stopped to assess the damage, and Network Rail are now carrying out repairs as quickly as possible.

Due to the type of damage which has occurred, it has not been possible to reopen all lines before these repairs are completed.

Check before you travel:
You can check your journey using the National Rail Enquiries real-time Journey Planner

Twitter:
If you would like to follow this incident on Twitter, please use #HadleyWood

Compensation:
You may be entitled to compensation if you experience a delay in completing your journey today. Please keep your train ticket and make a note of your journey, as both will be required to support any claim.

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Last updated: 06:24