Peak hour delays are expected to hit the tracks this Friday afternoon due to a signalling system fault near Battersea Park.

Services that travel on the 'slow' line (the line used by trains which stop at most or all stations) from Clapham Junction towards London Victoria will need to be 'talked past' the affected signals. This is causing delays of approximately 10 minutes per train. These delays may result in part or full cancellations of services which are expected to take place on an ad-hoc basis.

National Rail have said that to avoid a build up of delays and congestion as trains travel through this area, some services will run via an alternative line where possible.

The 'track circuit failure' is affecting two signals at Battersea Park on one of the lines towards London Victoria.

A track circuit failure is when the signalling system is unable to automatically verify if the next section of track past the affected signal is clear.

The rail network is designed so that if a signal stops working, trains will stop before they reach it. Whilst this issue is ongoing, train crew will stop at the affected signal and contact the signalling centre to confirm their location.

At this point the signaller will verbally authorise the driver to continue towards the next signal. This process adds time to every train's journey, which means services can experience short delays.

Network Rail specialist technicians are en route to the area to investigate this fault and make the repairs needed to allow trains to begin running normally again.

The delays are expected to last until at least 5pm.