16 February 2026 •
We would like to apologise to customers caught up in disruption on the c2c network on Friday 13 and Sunday 15 February.
What happened?
Friday 13 February
At approximately 15:15 on Friday afternoon, a person was sadly hit by a train between Benfleet and Leigh on Sea.
In response to this emergency, rail replacement buses were arranged to transport customers between Pitsea and Southend Central. While normal train operations resumed just after 20:30, the disruption resulted in unit and driver displacement, leading to further delays and cancellations across our service.
Sunday 15 February
Yesterday, at approximately 04:45 a fault with the signalling system was reported between Barking and West Ham.
Once confirmed, c2c made arrangements so that tickets would be accepted on Greater Anglia and TfL services, allowing customers to continue their journeys with minimal inconvenience.
Network Rail dispatched a team of engineers to the area who discovered theft to the cables that affect the signalling equipment. Because of this damage, no services could run on the London-bound track between Barking and West Ham and this severely restricted the number of trains we could operate.
At 12:00, Network Rail discovered additional cables had been cut. Engineers had to manually install heavy clips to several track points, and repairs were finalised at approximately 18:00. Despite these efforts, the fault continued to cause delays and cancellations into the evening.
c2c Managing Director Rob Mullen said: “I am really sorry to all of our customers who were caught up in the disruption on the c2c route this weekend.
“We understand that this event caused significant inconvenience to your travel, particularly during the busy Friday afternoon period. We offer our heartfelt sympathies to the family affected by this situation.
“We collaborated closely with our Network Rail colleagues yesterday to resolve the signalling issue, ensuring services were restored as quickly and safely as possible.”
Katie Frost, route director for Network Rail Anglia said: “We’re sorry that your journey was affected by the theft of cables on Sunday which affected our signalling system. We replaced the cables as quickly as possible to get the trains moving again.
“Cable theft is a big problem for the railway which impacts passenger and freight services, causing frustrating delays and cancellations. We’re working with the British Transport Police and the scrap metal industry to tackle this issue across the country.
“If you see any suspicious behaviour on the tracks, please contact the British Transport Police on 0800 40 50 40. Or Text 61016. Or 999 in an emergency.”
Compensation for delays
If you have been delayed, you will be eligible for compensation for your journey. Find out more about the compensation we offer, and how to claim, here.
c2c smartcard users: You will receive automatic compensation provided you tapped your Smartcard at both the start and end of your journey. If you have not been able to do so, you will have to make a manual claim for your delay. This is because our system will not have full information about your journey and cannot calculate your automatic compensation. We recommend you check your online account to ensure our automatic payments do reflect your actual delay. If you feel they do not, you can use your online account to correct the automatic system or alternatively submit a manual claim.
Paper ticket holders, Oyster and contactless card users: Please fill out your details on this online delay repay form.
Contactless customers: Customers who travelled from a c2c station using pay as you with contactless ticketing can claim delay repay by providing the full details of their affected journey. You can access your journey history and statement from the Transport for London website by following these steps:
Go to https://contactless.tfl.gov.uk/ and then click on 7 day contactless journey and payment history tab
When prompted enter your personal information (name, address and email) and details of the contactless card used for the delayed journey
Once the payment card has been located, the site will display a list of all journeys and payments made within the last 7 days
At the bottom of the page there is a button where you can ‘download statement’
This statement should be attached to your Delay Repay Claim: c2c Delay Repay | Claim Compensation on 15 Minute+ Delays