'Don't travel on Weymouth-Waterloo line' plea after major disruption

It is due to a major signalling problem on lines from London Waterloo which is affecting the entire South Western Railway (SWR) network.

As reported, the problem has been reported in the Surbiton area of Surrey.

Network Rail says this 'complicated and unusual failure' means only a very limited service can run and there will not be enough trains to carry everyone who wants to travel. The impact is being felt across the entire SWR network.

Network Rail Southern region managing director John Halsall said: “I’m so sorry for the major problems passengers that are facing today and both Network Rail and South Western Railway are asking people not to travel on trains from Waterloo.

“This is an unusually complex problem and we’re working as hard as we can to resolve it, but even if we can fix it soon, the disruption is likely to continue for the rest of the day.

“We can only run a very limited service from London Waterloo, and as a result we are having to limit the number of trains we’re running the other way, otherwise we will soon run out of trains at one end and space to put them at the other.

“As soon as we can get things moving normally again we will, but until then please don’t travel.”

SWR’s Managing Director, Claire Mann, said: “We are so sorry that, due to track circuit failures at Surbiton, our customers are having to deal with disrupted journeys today.

“Unfortunately, this disruption is so severe that we are urging our customers not to travel on our network until further notice.

“Whilst we work with Network Rail to fix this problem, a rail replacement bus service is currently in operation on affected routes, and SWR tickets are being accepted on certain TfL, Southern Railway, GWR and Cross Country services along with some local bus routes.

“Once again, we are extremely sorry for any inconvenience caused to our customers”.

Customers are advised to check at National Rail or SWR for up to date travel information.