Significant disruption has impacted services at London Waterloo station due to a major signalling failure, prompting South Western Railway (SWR) to advise passengers to check their journeys before travelling.
SWR reported that equipment responsible for routing trains in and out of the station malfunctioned on Monday morning, resulting in widespread cancellations, delays, and service revisions across the network.
The issue, which left numerous passengers stranded, has since been resolved.
SWR has announced the “gradual re-introduction of train services” and anticipates delivering a “reasonable service for afternoon and evening routes on our suburban lines” as well as services into Reading and Windsor.
Passengers holding Monday-dated rail tickets can use them on Tuesday instead, or tickets will be accepted on select local bus routes, according to SWR.
SWR and Network Rail have issued apologies for the disruption. In a joint statement, they stated, “We expect to restore a reliable train service on our routes to Reading and Windsor & Eton Riverside, as well as our suburban routes, later this afternoon.”
“However, significant disruption is expected on our long-distance routes to Exeter St Davids, Portsmouth, and Weymouth until the end of the day.”
Passengers are advised that taxi reimbursements will not be provided. However, tickets will be valid on designated routes operated by London Buses, Falcon Buses, Stagecoach South, and Morebus, along with certain train journeys on the London Underground, CrossCountry, Southern, and Great Western Railway.
Jessica Halstead, traveling with her two children, expressed her “frustration” to the BBC after waiting on the station concourse for over an hour.
“Entertaining children on a station platform is challenging… deciding whether to get lunch, and uncertainty about when the train will depart is quite disruptive,” Ms. Halstead commented.
“One wonders, at what point do you simply give up?”
While many passengers were seen waiting on the concourse floor at Waterloo, customers across the SWR network also experienced delays and cancellations.
Rory Smith, attempting to travel from Southampton to assist with setting up the Camp Bestival event in Shropshire, informed the BBC that his train was cancelled and his travel applications were not up to date.
“It would be ideal if things ran a little more seamlessly… without the feeling of having to scramble to find alternative routes.”
Dan Cokely, a visitor from the US, recounted having to board and disembark multiple trains on his journey from Waterloo to Southampton.
“I am frustrated,” he stated.
“This marks my third experience with British Rail, and my third disruption.”
Network Rail’s Operations Director Tom Desmond expressed his “incredibly sorry” to BBC London for the signalling breakdown – an issue initially detected on Saturday.
“This was a technical fault that we worked diligently to resolve throughout the weekend. It occurred Saturday morning, we recovered it through Saturday afternoon and Sunday, but it failed again this morning.”
He stated his “confidence” that the root cause of the issue had been addressed and that a reliable service would resume.
“The team is working incredibly hard to ensure it’s robust and that all the trains, drivers, and train crew are back in position to get everyone home this afternoon,” Mr. Desmond added.
The signalling issue was reported at approximately 05:30, according to National Rail, which noted that 14 platforms at London Waterloo were out of service.
SWR was the first operator brought into public ownership by the Labour government in May, with a second train company, c2c, nationalised by Labour on Sunday.
Operator c2c runs services between London Fenchurch Street and south Essex.
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