TRAVEL CHAOS: South Western trains DELAYED or CANCELLED as Southern Rail also disrupted

South Western Railway (SWR) services – formerly known as South West Trains – including those to and from London Waterloo, the UK's busiest railway station, have been delayed or cancelled.

The delays have been caused by signal problems at Havant, which has blocked lines and the disruption is expected until the end of the day.

At 8.11am, SWR tweeted: “Network Rail technicians have identified that the problem at Havant has been caused by an attempted theft of signalling cables.

“We are currently unable to advise when the problem will be fixed. Services from Alton are getting reintroduced.”

Meanwhile Southern Rail reports disruption through Havant its expected until at least 3pm and “trains may be cancelled, delayed by up to 30 minutes or revised”.

Great Western Railway trains are also subject to change, potentially at short notice.

Passengers have been told that some trains will be changed or cancelled in the morning, while other changes will be made at short notice.

Some Great Western Railway services may terminate at or start from Southampton Central and disruption is expected to continue until approximately 11am.

Great Western Railway customers will be allowed to use tickets on Southern and South Western Railway services and may also use First Buses on routes X4, X5, 1, 3, 8, 13 and 18 in the mean time.

Major disruptions have also been reported by South Western after a signalling fault at Woking and an earlier problem at Clapham Junction which has now been fixed.

The disruption has sparked anger among commuters who have taken to social media to vent their frustration.

Cat Budden with the hashtag #SWRshambles tweeted: “Another day, another delay repay claim.”

Twitter user Gavin said: “Third day in a row a train cancelled - good work South Western Railway.”

Meanwhile Frederica added: “Once again things aren't going well with South Western please sort out the signalling problems!"

Southern Railway in a statement said: Please allow extra time for your journey this morning as journey times will be extended by up to 60 minutes. If possible, please delay travelling until 9am.

“If you are travelling between Southampton Central and Portsmouth please use South Western Railway services.

“If you are travelling between Portsmouth and Havant / Chichester please use Stagecoach Bus route 700.

“Replacement bus services are running from Chichester to Havant.”

The news comes after the Rail, Maritime and Transport union confirmed that its members on SWR will take industrial action over the Easter weekend by refusing to work rest days in the long-running dispute over the role of guards.

More to follow...

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