London Waterloo: Train derailment & signal failure causing rush-hour chaos
South West Trains (SWT) has urged rail passengers to avoid travelling to or from London Waterloo following “a signal failure and an operational incident”, while images on social media appear to show a derailed train. Some social media users have claimed ambulance and fire crews were at the scene, but this remains unconfirmed. Tickets are being accepted on all Transport for London (TfL) buses and all services to London Paddington and London Victoria. Network Rail said the train partly left the tracks when it was leaving the station at 5.40am. London Ambulance Service confirmed it had checked over three people, adding: "Thankfully they did not need to go to hospital."
TWITTER Images on social media show a passenger train leaning against a freight train
Ten of London Waterloo’s platforms are already closed as the station undergoes major engineering works in order to enlarge its capacity. The £800million developments will allow the station to accommodate longer trains and provide space for 30 per cent extra passengers during the busiest times of the day. An SWT statement has been issued which reads: “Due to a fault with a set of points and an operational incident between Vauxhall and London Waterloo, train services running to and from these stations will be cancelled, delayed or revised. “Disruption is expected until the end of the day. “There is a fault with a set of points on one of the lines approaching London Waterloo. This means that we are unable to use two of the five lines into and out of the station.
“This is expected to cause some delays to services, while trains use the available lines. In addition, we are investigating an operational incident near Waterloo station, which will cause further disruption. We are strongly advising you not to travel at this current time on our network to or from London Waterloo.” The disruption is expected to last until the end of the day with a huge number of services cancelled our delayed. SWT is urging passengers to condor alternative routes and warned that queueing is likely. The company said: “You may want to consider using alternative routes. “Queuing systems may be put in place at stations affected in order to keep you safe and manage the number of customers on platform.
TWITTER?DAVID HOLMAN Emergency services on the platform at Waterloo this morning
“Queuing is likely to be in place at Waterloo, Vauxhall, Clapham, Wimbledon, Raynes Park, New Malden, Surbiton, Esher, Woking, Wandsworth Town and Putney. “We have significantly reduced the number of trains running to and from London Waterloo to ensure that delayed trains do not approach London Waterloo at the same time. “When this happens, trains have to wait for platforms to become free, occupying the track outside Waterloo and making it more difficult to get trains moving. The effect of this situation occurring quickly leads to vastly increased disruption. “We are sorry for the disruption to your journey this morning.”
GETTY Waterloo is London's busiest rail station and delays are likely to affect thousands of passengers
South West Trains confirmed the following service changes: Trains departing from Portsmouth Harbour will terminate at Woking. From 05:39 trains will call additionally at Witley, Milford, Godalming and Farncombe, terminating at Woking. We are advising that if you are travelling onwards to London Waterloo that you do not travel at this time. Trains departing London Waterloo towards Portsmouth Harbour will be starting from Woking. Trains from London Waterloo to Haslemere will be cancelled. Trains departing from Basingstoke (via Surbiton) and Portsmouth Harbour (via Eastleigh) to London Waterloo will now: terminate at Woking no longer call at Surbiton, Clapham Junction or London Waterloo. We advise that you do not travel towards London on our network at this time. Trains departing from Guildford at xx:03 and xx:33 towards London Waterloo will be cancelled. We advise that you do not travel towards London as there is no through route into London at present. If you are travelling to intermediate stations towards Surbiton please board a Basingstoke Surbiton service. Trains departing London Waterloo towards Woking at xx:17 and xx:47 will also be cancelled. Trains between Hampton Court and London Waterloo will be cancelled in both directions. We advise that you do not travel at the present time. Trains between Guildford and London Waterloo (via Cobham) will terminate at and start from Wimbledon. We advise that you change at Wimbledon and use the District line to continue your journey. Trains between Guildford and London Waterloo (via Epsom) will terminate at Epsom. We advise that you change at Epsom and use Southern services to London Victoria.
PA A cordon has been put in place after a train appeared to hit the buffers at King's Cross