Passengers advised to travel earlier this evening

Passengers on Great Northern and Thameslink trains running through Finsbury Park and Alexandra Palace are being advised to travel earlier if possible this evening due to emergency engineering work to fix damaged overhead power lines.

Services have been significantly reduced in number and disrupted all day following the damage yesterday (Sunday) which has trapped some train carriages in the depot at Hornsey.

Now, in a bid to complete full repair works overnight, the power will be switched off, at 22:00, to a section of the line.

This will cause further significant disruption as some trains will need to be put in the depot much earlier than normal or stabled in other locations around the network. There will also be no trains towards London from Gordon Hill on the Hertford Loop from 22:00.

For more service information, visit www.greatnorthernrail.com.

Rob McIntosh, Route Managing Director at Network Rail, said: “I am sorry for the continuing unacceptable level of disruption faced by passengers. Our engineers have been working to repair the overhead power equipment near Hornsey since it was damaged on Sunday. To complete the fix safely we need to turn off the power, and to give ourselves enough time to do the work we need to stop trains running earlier than usual tonight.

“I want to apologise again to passengers for this disruption as we work to get a full train service running again from tomorrow.”

George McInulty, Service Delivery Director at Govia Thameslink Railway said: "Engineers will be working through the night to fix the problem in time for tomorrow's service. We apologise to our passengers who have been affected so much and would urge them to claim Delay Repay compensation via our website or by using a form available at stations."

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