A midday signalling failure between East Croydon and Gatwick Airport halted services on one of Britain’s busiest business-travel corridors for almost four hours on Saturday, 22 November. National Rail reported that the fault, logged at 12:26 GMT, blocked multiple tracks and forced Gatwick Express, Southern and Thameslink trains to divert or terminate early. Normal operations did not resume until 16:04, stranding travellers heading to and from the UK’s second-busiest international airport.
The incident coincided with the start of Thanksgiving return traffic to the United States and the final day of major conferences at London’s ExCeL centre, amplifying disruption for transatlantic corporate passengers. Some airlines accepted passengers on later flights without penalty, but business-class seats rapidly sold out, leaving economy travellers with limited rebooking options.
![Points failure causes four-hour suspension of Gatwick corridor rail services]()
For global mobility teams, the episode underscores the importance of real-time travel monitoring and airport-hotel day rates for delayed assignees. Companies with US or Asia-Pacific rotations through Gatwick may wish to brief staff on alternative rail routes via Redhill or direct coach services from Victoria.
Network Rail is investigating the root cause of the points failure; early reports suggest a power-supply issue related to overnight engineering works. With passenger numbers already back above pre-pandemic levels on the Brighton Main Line, industry groups are calling for acceleration of the £1 billion Croydon Area Remodelling Scheme, which would add resilience but is currently unfunded beyond design stage.
Commuters affected today can claim Delay Repay compensation for delays of 15 minutes or more, although Gatwick Express only accepts claims based on the original ticket price, not consequential costs such as missed flights.
The incident coincided with the start of Thanksgiving return traffic to the United States and the final day of major conferences at London’s ExCeL centre, amplifying disruption for transatlantic corporate passengers. Some airlines accepted passengers on later flights without penalty, but business-class seats rapidly sold out, leaving economy travellers with limited rebooking options.
For global mobility teams, the episode underscores the importance of real-time travel monitoring and airport-hotel day rates for delayed assignees. Companies with US or Asia-Pacific rotations through Gatwick may wish to brief staff on alternative rail routes via Redhill or direct coach services from Victoria.
Network Rail is investigating the root cause of the points failure; early reports suggest a power-supply issue related to overnight engineering works. With passenger numbers already back above pre-pandemic levels on the Brighton Main Line, industry groups are calling for acceleration of the £1 billion Croydon Area Remodelling Scheme, which would add resilience but is currently unfunded beyond design stage.
Commuters affected today can claim Delay Repay compensation for delays of 15 minutes or more, although Gatwick Express only accepts claims based on the original ticket price, not consequential costs such as missed flights.
