Great Western Coffee Shop

A landslip between Basingstoke and Winchester means all lines between these stations are blocked. As a result, trains may be cancelled, delayed or revised.

Disruption is expected until the end of the day.

South Western Railway Customer Advice

We have been informed of a landslip, heavy rain and flooding on the railway between Basingstoke and Southampton. This means that all lines are blocked between these stations.
Until further notice the following alterations will be necessary:
Some services to Weymouth will be diverted via Havant.
 
Rail replacement buses will run as follows:
Bus replacement services between Basingstoke and Winchester
Basingstoke bus replacements expected at 18:30
Winchester bus replacements expected at 18:55
 
To assist you with your journey your ticket will be accepted, at no extra cost to yourself, on the following services:
Stagecoach Buses 76 and 86 (Basingstoke to Winchester)
 
Should you wish to complete your journey by taxi you can claim this back by submitting your receipt here.

Network Rail Wessex have released these photos on Twitter

https://twitter.com/networkrailwssx/status/1656002315118157843?s=61&t=VlafMC5gF9tidw36b1Y8JQ

12 hour line block by Network Rail from 0030 10th May 2023.

CrossCountry services between Didcot and Southampton/Bournemouth will be diverted via Andover and the Laverstock curve.

Services between Waterloo and Weymouth will be diverted via the Portsmouth Direct Line between Woking and Havant.

Rail Replacement Buses are being sourced for services between Basingstoke, Winchester and Eastleigh.

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Disruption also between Salisbury and Exeter due to flooding in the Tisbury area and at Crewkerne Tunnel. This could affect morning start up.

In my very early travels, I took a journey from London to Southampton changing at Alton into the Thumper via Alresford, Itchen Abbas and Winchester. Would have been useful today ... though would it have been worthwhile and economically sensible in the intervening 50 years?

Off to visit the Swanage Railway tomorrow, so here's hoping things are sorted by then.

Was the Alton-Winchester line ever double track?  Maybe my view of it is skewed by seeing it now only with its heritage operation, but it always strikes me as a sleepy branch line that happened to form a through route. Unless it could have supported itself with fairly local traffic, the money needed to turn it into a viable main line and keep it that way over the years would probably have been better spent elsewhere, say on maintaining the current SW main line.  I don't know Winchester well, but it strikes me as the sort of place that would suffer from road traffic congestion so the rail link would now be seen as useful, but sadly the time has passed.

Shown on the 1950s one-inch OS map at https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=14.0&lat=51.08896&lon=-1.28811&layers=11&b=4 (https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=14.0&lat=51.08896&lon=-1.28811&layers=11&b=4) as single track throughout.

Similar to the 2020 embankment failure that was run into by a Voyager, which luckily did not derail.  Hopefully it’s not the exact same site,  is it the opposite end of the same tunnel?

Looks as if the weight of the landslip has overcome the existing barrier that should have prevented this?

Paul

Line reopened with a speed restriction.

Area known as Wailers Ash

Wallers Ash.

Though I dare say a fair few of those who use the South Western mainline are indeed wailing after the latest issue to affect this line.

The landslip of 27/8/20 was at the northern end of Wallers Ash tunnel.
(https://www.railforums.co.uk/attachments/img_20200827_190231-jpg.82824/)

At first sight yesterday's picture looks very similar to 2020's, but there are enough differences that this time it must be the other (southern) end.

It must be, yes, in a detailed view the portal brickwork is not quite so posh, especially in one of the later Twitter images, the one with a wider view where there’s a sign visible on the brickwork.

Paul