South Western trains disrupted as works overrun

The disruption has been caused by a stuck stressing kit on one of the rails

Trains on a South Western Railway main line remain disrupted after engineering works overran.

Overnight works between Woking and Byfleet and New Haw did not finish on time, which has affected services between London Waterloo and Southampton, Salisbury, Portsmouth, Basingstoke and Alton.

South Western Railway (SWR) said on X (formerly Twitter) that services are likely to be delayed, cancelled or revised until the end of service on Friday.

Network Rail apologised for the delays and said the machinery they needed to use for the overnight work failed.

"It has been an incredibly difficult morning for passengers," Louise Greaves from Network Rail told BBC Radio Surrey

It said a stressing kit got stuck on one of the rails and engineers were unable to release it as normal until all the hydraulic fluid has been drained from it.

The railway line reopened at 08:15 BST but SWR said trains will continue to be disrupted as trains and crew members are in the wrong places.

Louise Greaves from Network Rail told BBC Radio Surrey: "It has been an incredibly difficult morning for passengers.

"We use this equipment every night and it is usually fine, but unfortunately this time it failed.

"If we had opened the railway lines, the pressure would have been too high and could have caused the equipment to come off the tracks, which would have been a danger for trains and staff on site.

"Safety is our number one priority."

Weekend work

SWR said passengers who book taxis between Basingstoke and Surbiton due to the disruption will be reimbursed if they can provide a receipt and a valid train ticket.

Passengers can also use their tickets on Great Western Railway (GWR), CrossCountry and Govia Thameslink services, as well as on underground trains between Paddington and Waterloo and on buses.

Passengers who reach their destination 15 minutes late or more are eligible to make a claim under the Delay Repay scheme.

Ms Greaves said: "There is more engineering work scheduled for the weekend.

"We are reviewing that work and making sure we have robust plans to make sure no more overruns occur."