Rail passengers experienced disruptions this morning as authorities responded to an incident involving individuals causing trouble on a service traveling between Shoreham-by-Sea and Worthing.
Westbound routes were significantly affected by the situation.
Southern Rail communicated through social media platform X that travelers were generating a disturbance aboard a train traveling between the two stations. The company stated the route toward Worthing would remain closed until further notice.
The company further indicated the following westbound services were affected:
Routes from Brighton toward Southampton Central
Services from Brighton heading to Bognor Regis and Chichester
Trains traveling from London Victoria to Littlehampton
Southern Rail reported that law enforcement had been alerted concerning the disruptive passengers.
Representatives from The Argus reached out to British Transport Police seeking additional details.
Authorities were dispatched to escort the troublesome individuals off the train. The route toward Worthing was anticipated to remain blocked for a minimum of 10 minutes. Travelers currently on this line were advised to verify their service and expect at least 10 minutes of delay.
Following the removal of the passengers from the train, rail operations resumed normal movement between Shoreham-by-Sea and Worthing.
Train movement has resumed, though travelers currently in transit may experience delays of up to 40 minutes. Those whose journeys have not yet commenced were instructed to verify their service and allow additional travel time.
Further details regarding the specifics of the occurrence are pending from British Transport Police.
Rail operations have resumed as normal.
Services are no longer affected by the earlier disturbance between Shoreham-by-Sea and Worthing. Customers whose travel was delayed by 15 minutes or more may qualify for compensation through the delay repay scheme. Claims can be submitted through the provided channel.
British Transport Police provided a statement regarding the morning’s events.
Officers reported responding to notifications of an assault occurring on board a train at Lancing.
This concludes our live coverage of this incident.