TRAIN services to London Bridge are set to be disrupted for the rest of the day as engineers continue to fix a hole which appeared underneath the train tracks.

All four lines between East Croydon and London Bridge are closed while repairs take place following the discovery of a 13 foot hole near to Forest Hill railway station.

Southern Railway and Thameslink services to and from London Bridge from the south coast have been cancelled.

A hole appeared beneath the track yesterday afternoon and Network Rail and Thames Water engineers have been working to fix the problem.

Network Rail say engineers are putting dry concrete into the hole, which will form a base where wet concrete will be poured on top. When the concrete has set, around 50 tonnes of ballast will be poured into the hole with the aim of opening the railway tomorrow. The time required for the concrete to set means the work will take the remainder of the day and evening.

Network Rail area director Paul Rutter said: “We appreciate this isn’t the news that passengers want to hear but we are doing everything we can to get services back to normal. Because of the location of the hole we won’t be able to run trains on this track through to London Bridge for the rest of the day. Everything has to be done in stages and we have to confident that this repair will last to enable us to run a safe railway.

“We understand this is going to disrupt people’s journeys and passengers are advised to check before they travel and allow extra time for their journeys. We apologise for the disruption and assure passengers that we are working hard to restore the railway to full capacity."

Thames Water engineers are making repairs to a collapsed sewer under a hole at Forest Hill station.

Engineers have located the problem section of pipe and are working to seal it and divert sewer flows. This will then allow Network Rail to begin filling in the hole.

Carl Leadbetter, Thames Water’s regional network manager, said: “Our teams continue to work as fast as possible on this critical job. While we need to work quickly to reopen the train lines, we also need to consider local residents, who will potentially suffer from sewer flooding if the pipe is not properly enclosed. This is an extremely complex job as the pipe is in a difficult location in the tracks and six metres below the ground.”

A Southern spokesman said: "We understand this is extremely frustrating for our passengers. The closure of all four lines between London Bridge and East Croydon means that our services have had to be diverted or cancelled. Our advice is to check before travelling and allow plenty of time to complete your journey today. Passengers for East Croydon should avoid using London Bridge and travel via Victoria or Blackfriars instead."

Southern service summary:

• Horsham to London Bridge services are diverted to Victoria

• East Grinstead, Uckfield, Caterham and Tattenham Corner services to London Bridge are running, but are being diverted via Crystal Palace

• Mainline services to London Bridge from Littlehampton, Bognor Regis and Eastbourne are cancelled

• Thameslink Brighton to London Bridge services are starting/terminating at Gatwick Airport