c2c issued an apology to its customers after a signal failure near Shoeburyness station caused delays earlier this month.

In total, 89 trains were delayed or cancelled, the delays were further lengthened by the flooding in south Essex. When there are no delays passengers can travel from London to Southend in just 45 minutes.

Signals between Shoeburyness and Thorpe Bay stations failed just after 2 am. Engineers from Network Rail attended to fix the fault. They managed to carry out a temporary repair to points at Shoeburyness depot to allow some trains to leave.

By around 6.30 am the main fault had been identified, but the heavy rain had caused delays on the roads having a knock on effect in getting the extra people and equipment that was needed to fix the fault. The fault was fixed and the line was fully reopened at approximately 11.40 am after engineers from Network Rail had replaced 90 meters of signalling cable.

As the main rolling stock of c2c is stored overnight at Shoeburyness depot, only a few trains could leave the depot during the time the signalling system was out. The reduced service ensured the line was completely safe. The morning peak service ran with as many trains as possible with c2c’s fleet from East Ham depot and the few from Shoeburyness.

Replacement buses were laid on to provide extra capacity between Shoeburyness and Pitsea, although these got delayed in the heavy traffic as well.

Claims for compensation can be submited to c2c if you were delayed by the incident on Tuesday morning. For more information, take a look at the c2c website. Smartcard users who tapped their card at either end of their journey will receive compensation automatically. If you were unable to tap at both ends or used an Oystercard, contactless card or paper tickets passengers will need to complete the online delay repay form.

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