suffering major disruption, due to a combination of a minor train fire near Surbiton, high rail temperatures and various other infrastructure issues. (To which can be added the inevitable air conditioning failures).
A speed restriction because of high track temperatures
Our control centre has been advised of emergency speed restrictions being imposed on our network because of predicted high track temperatures. The primary location of these speed restrictions is between London Waterloo and New Malden on lines heading away from London Waterloo. The speed restrictions vary between 20mph and 40mph depending on the perceived impact caused by high track temperatures. This will cause all trains heading away from London Waterloo to lose up to 10 minutes before reaching New Malden station. Furthermore, as trains will take longer to pass through these sections, signals will be red for longer. Drivers are not permitted to pass red signals therefore please do not be alarmed if your train stops whilst not at a station.
Network Rail, who own and maintain the railway infrastructure, have imposed this speed restriction to reduce the issues that can be caused by high track temperatures. Please see
https://www.networkrail.co.uk/running-the-railway/looking-after-the-railway/delays-explained/buckled-rail/ for more information.
We may need to make short-notice changes to trains in order to manage disruption. We may need to change where your train stops or cancel it at short notice.
If you need help completing your journey, please speak to a member of staff, visit southwesternrailway.com or use a help point at any station. To manage the delays and congestion caused by this problem some short-notice changes to services may be necessary. Details of alterations to individual services can be found on our JourneyCheck page at
http://www.journeycheck.com/swr/.
We recommend that you carry a bottle of water with you when you travel on one of our trains, especially in hot weather.
We're sorry for the disruption.
Last Updated:25/06/2018 09:06
Cancellations to services on all routes
Due to a small electrical fire underneath a train earlier today:
What's Going On:
Train services running across the whole South Western Railway network may be cancelled, delayed by up to 60 minutes or revised. Disruption is expected until the end of the day.
What We're Doing About It:
If you have an alternative route to your destination that does not use London Waterloo station, we advise you to use that service. We are serving all stations, however trains are severely delayed.
Earlier today we were made aware of a small electrical fire under a train between Surbiton and Weybridge, this blocked both lines heading away from London for some time, causing a lot of congestion. The fire has now been safely put out, and engineers have visited the site to attend the affected train, opening both lines.
However, we are also having some signalling problems affecting one of the lines towards Woking from Surbiton, which is causing trains to pick up additional delays.
Further to that we have now been made aware of a points failure at Woking, this means that trains from Guildford to Woking will be diverted. We are in the process of sourcing replacement transport, until that time please continue to Surbiton and change there for a train back down to Woking.
Short notice alterations may be made to manage the overall service.
If you require any assistance with your journey, please speak to a member of station staff or use a station help point.
We are sorry for the disruption to your journey.
How We're Helping You Complete Your Journey:
Your tickets will be accepted on:
- Southern Services between Clapham Junction and London Victoria, Epsom and London Victoria as well as London Victoria and Southampton Central
- London Underground services via any reasonable route
- London Bus services between Surbiton and London Waterloo via any reasonable route.
- Great Western Railway services via any reasonable route.
- Cross Country services between Reading and Southampton in both directions.
If you require any further help please speak to a member of station staff or use a station help point.
We are sorry for any delay this may cause to your journey.
Further Information
Joint statement from Network Rail and South Western Railway:
We would like to apologise to passengers for ongoing delays to services into and out of Waterloo today, and advise them to avoid travelling through Waterloo this evening if at all possible.
This is due to two lines being blocked after an electrical fire on the underside of a train carriage near Surbiton at 1420 this afternoon, which also caused a loss of power to the neighbouring line.
No one was injured in the incident, and the emergency services and Network Rail engineers were on site promptly to deal with the fire, remove passengers safely from the train and repair damage to the railway. Both lines have now reopened.
We once again apologise to passengers for the delays and ask them to check before they travel for the rest of the day as trains could be cancelled or services revised at short notice.
Customers whose train journeys have been delayed by 15 minutes or more can claim compensation through our Delay Repay compensation scheme. Details at southwesternrailway.com or any staffed South Western Railway station.
If you would like to make a comment about your experience with us today, please call us on 0345 6000 650 (option 4) or see
https://www.southwesternrailway.com/contact-and-help/contact-us for other ways to contact us.
Last Updated:26/06/2018 20:22
