Railway sleepers 'broke' beneath Eastleigh derailed train

The derailment caused damage to the tracks

Broken concrete sleepers have been found at the site of a derailed freight train, sources have told the BBC.

Six wagons came off the track at Eastleigh on Tuesday, blocking the line between Southampton and Basingstoke, and damaging points equipment.

Four wagons that remained on the site have now been cleared and work has begun to install temporary track to allow services to resume on Monday.

Meanwhile, buses continue to replace cancelled and diverted services.

BBC South transport correspondent Paul Clifton said sources close to the investigation had told him the edges of concrete sleepers had broken beneath the Freightliner train as it crossed a junction.

A Rail Accident Investigation Branch report is expected to take months to complete.

Specialist lifting equipment was brought in to move the stricken freight train carriages

The derailment damaged points equipment

A Network Rail spokesman said: "Following the derailment, there is extensive damage to the track and our engineers are working around the clock to get the railway back open as quickly and as safely as possible.

"To do this we are installing temporary track and will make alterations to the signalling and power supply as the full repair will take more time."

Several CrossCountry, South Western Railway (SWR) and Southern routes are affected by the disruption.

A Freightliner spokeswoman said: "We apologise for the obvious disruption and inconvenience this incident has caused to the many affected passengers and freight customers who rely on the services that we collectively provide."