THERE is major disruption on the Brighton Mainline after a power surge caused trains to stop.
The incident is affecting services running between London and both Brighton and Horsham.
Trains on these lines may be cancelled or delayed by up to 40 minutes, Southern Rail warned.
Currently, Crawley, Ifield, Faygate and Littlehaven stations cannot be served.
Disruption is expected to continue until 2pm.
A Southern Rail spokesman said: “Earlier this morning, a power cable broke away from a pylon and fell onto the track in the Three Bridges area.
"A train then ran over the cable, causing a power surge that affected the electricity supply to the railway.
The line between Three Bridges and Horsham after UK Power Networks pylon cable fell onto the railway. It’s caused a power blip which is causing severe delays for our @TLRailUK and @SouthernRailUK passengers. Please check before you travel and we’ll keep you posted pic.twitter.com/APH0lL4sGW
— Network Rail Kent and Sussex (@NetworkRailSE) September 25, 2020
"This, in turn, caused trains to come to a stop and the signals to momentarily turn off and on.
"Network Rail has managed to restore power to the majority of the affected routes and trains are now running again.
"The exception to this is the line between Three Bridges and Horsham, where the power cable originally fell.
"This line requires emergency repairs before trains are able to run.
"Due to the level of disruption caused by this incident, it will take a considerable amount of time to return the service to the normal timetable."
There are replacement bus services operating between Three Bridges and Horsham.
But this cannot serve Littlehaven Station due to a failure of the level crossing barriers at the site.
Southern Rail has provided advice to passengers looking to travel on the affected lines this morning.
A spokesman said: "Please delay travelling until later today.
@UKpowernetworks are removing the fallen cables and our early inspections are positive. We do need to fix a track circuit blown by the wire, which means signalling can be restored. Please continue to check before you travel, but we hope to bring you more positive news soon.
— Network Rail Kent and Sussex (@NetworkRailSE) September 25, 2020
"If you must travel now, please check journey planners for short notice alterations and allow extra time to complete your journey.
"Thameslink services between Peterborough and Horsham will be terminated and restarted at Three Bridges.
"Southern services that run between London Victoria and Bognor Regis/Portsmouth will, where possible, run via Hove.
"Rail replacement buses are operating between Three Bridges and Horsham, calling all stations.
"Please note that, due to a failure of the level crossing barriers, Littlehaven station can't be served by buses at this time.
"A train shuttle service is operating between Horsham and Barnham."
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