Avoid Victoria Station! That’s what Southern is telling Brighton and Hove commuters as they head for home

Brighton and Hove commuters are being advised to steer clear of Victoria Station this afternoon (Thursday 30 April).

Passengers look as though they will suffer similar disruption, delays and cancellations in the evening rush hour as they did this morning.

The hold-ups are the result of a power failure in the Clapham Junction area. Train company Southern apologised for the problems that passengers were suffering as a result and said that Network Rail was trying to rectify it as quickly as possible.

Crowd control measures were promised at Victoria.

Many commuters were expected to try setting off for home from London Bridge instead where a modernisation of the station is taking place. This has also led to crowd control measures being brought in over the past few months.

Looks like things are building up at #londonbridge good luck all x #southernrail pic.twitter.com/F3RlsO3gwS

— Sterling Morrison (@I_Hate_Southern) April 30, 2015

Network Rail said: “Due to a power failure between Wandsworth Common and Clapham Junction this morning there will be major disruption to Southern and Gatwick Express services to and from Victoria for the rest of the day.

“Services to and from London Bridge will also be impacted.

“Network Rail is in the process of repairing the damaged power supply rail and services will continue to be disrupted while this is taking place.

“We expect there to be disruption to services with delays, cancellations and short-notice alterations during this evening’s peak. This is because trains and train crews will be out of place.

“We are sorry for the disruption to your journey.

“At Victoria Station the entrance on to Buckingham Palace Road may be closed and the whole of the station is likely to be very busy with a queuing system in place for services on platforms 15 to 19 and other platforms being busier than usual.

“London Bridge is expected to be very busy this evening.

“Passengers are advised where possible to avoid using London Victoria and use London Blackfriars and London Waterloo.

“Passengers’ tickets will be accepted on

• Brighton and Hove Buses on any reasonable route
• London Buses on any reasonable route
• London Overground services on any reasonable route
• London Underground services on any reasonable route
• Thameslink services between Brighton and London

“Please check nationalrail.co.uk for the latest updates.”