Southern services recovering following ram raid at Barnham station

Southern rail services continue to recover following an early-hours ram raid on a cashpoint close to Barnham station that forced the closure of a vital traincrew depot.

Reports came in at around 0320 that a JCB had been used in an attempt to remove the cash machine from the wall of the Co-Op in Barnham Road.

The Co-Op is part of the same building and sits next door to the traincrew depot, where train drivers and on-train colleagues collect their equipment and sign on each morning to staff Southern’s train service.

Customer Service Director Jenny Saunders said: “We were forced to close the depot until 9am when a structural engineer from the council confirmed it was safe to enter.

“Until then, our crew were being organised to sign on at alternative locations wherever possible but we could only run a reduced service and there has been a lot of disruption to our customers’ journeys today, for which I apologise.

“We arranged ticket acceptance with other transport providers and we have been rebuilding the service. Regrettably, disruption due to the displacement of our colleagues and trains is expected to last into the afternoon.”

"Anyone whose journey was delayed by 15 minutes or more can claim Delay Repay compensation at southernrailway.com.

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Editor's notes

For more information about the ram raid, please contact Sussex Police on 01273 404173 or by emailing media.hq@sussex.pnn.police.uk