UPDATE: Chaos at East Grinstead station

National Rail confirmed that an ‘operational incident’ between East Grinstead and Oxted has blocked the line.

“Trains between East Grinstead and London Bridge may be cancelled or amended to start and terminate at East Croydon”, a statement on National Rail’s website said.

Passengers at East Grinstead station were reportedly told via an announcement that no trains would be leaving the station until at least 8.30am, a delay of an hour, but this has now been extended to about 8.55am.

While the line is expected to reopen at about 8.55am, disruption will continue with services delayed or cancelled until about 10.45am, according to a Network Rail spokesperson.

Photos posted to Twitter appear to show high levels of overcrowding at the station as the first day of the new batch of rail strikes begins.

Passengers took to Twitter to express their displeasure, with ‘#SouthernStrike’ and ‘#SouthernFail’ proving to be popular hashtags.

Matt Hall, a solution architect manager who commutes to London every day, said services were already delayed because of the strikes, but that the ‘operational incident’ was causing additional cancellations.

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