Rail passengers hoping to get to London Waterloo today are being advised to take alternative routes after a signnalling defect has caused chaos to the line.
Engineers worked on the site after a set of points covering platforms 1-4 of the busy station failed. Although the fault has been rectified, the station, which serves South West Trains stations including Wokingham, Winnersh and Earley, is struggling to get back to normal.
Services are not expected to be on track until 11pm tonight, Monday, April 10, although Wokingham trains appear to be leaving on time.
South West Trains said that while the service recovers a number of services running to and from the station will be reduced and trains across its network may be cancelled, delayed by up to 30 minutes or revised.
A statement on its website said: “We still anticipate the disruption to last until 23:00 but this is subject to review – further information will be provided soon. Disruption was previously anticipated to last until 15:00, however this estimate has been modified due to the extent of engineering work required and the subsequent time required to recover the service.”
Cancellations
The following routes will be cancelled:
- London Waterloo to Dorking
- London Waterloo to Chessington South
- London Waterloo to Hampton Court
Trains to Waterloo are delayed after a track failure which has been fixed but created a backlog
The following routes will be amended:
- Selected Portsmouth Harbour to London Waterloo services will terminate and start at Guildford.
- Selected Alton to London Waterloo services will terminate and start at Woking.
- Selected Exeter St David’s to London Waterloo services will terminate and start at Basingstoke.
- Selected London Waterloo to Salisbury/Exeter St David’s will terminate and start back at Basingstoke.
- Selected London Waterloo to Guildford via Cobham & Stoke DAbernon will call additionally at Raynes Park, New Malden & Berrylands in both directions.
- Selected London Waterloo to Hampton Court will run between Hampton Court and Surbiton on a ad-hoc basis.
All services from London Waterloo to Shepperton via Kingston & Twickenham will call additionally at Strawberry Hill in both directions.
Tickets are valid on these services:
- Great Western Railway via any reasonable route
- Southern via any reasonable route
- Thameslink services between London Blackfriars & Wimbledon in both directions
- CrossCountry services between Basingstoke and Southampton Central / Bournemouth in both directions
- London Underground via any reasonable route
- London Buses via any reasonable route
- Replacement buses will be calling at Surbiton, Thames Ditton and Hampton Court until 3pm.
South West Trains offers compensation
Passengers may be entitled to compensation if they experience a delay in their journey. They are advised to keep the train ticket and make a note of your journey, as both will be required to support any claim.
