Waterloo station
A fire has caused all South Western Railway services in and out of Waterloo Station to be cancelled or delayed REUTERS/Hannah McKay

A trackside fire at London Waterloo has caused major disruption to journeys, with South Western Railway (SWR) services in and out of the station cancelled or delayed by up to an hour.

Platforms 1 to 3 are currently out of use and the disruption is expected to last until the end of Monday (11 December), with SWR advising passengers to find another route.

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National Rail said the fire caused track circuits to come into contact with a 650 volt cable, thus affecting the ability of signallers to detect the presence of trains on three lines.

A statement from SRW read: "At present we are unable to use platforms 1 - 3 at London Waterloo. Trains which usually use these platforms are having to be diverted onto other lines to access different platforms, this is causing a large build up of trains in the area."

It added: "Disruption is expected until 20:00 today, 11 December."

Delays were compounded by a separate incident which saw a train break down on the Guildford to Ascot line in the Aldershot area.

In a statement published at around 2.40pm on Monday, SRW said the disruption cause by both incidents has meant:

  • Trains between London Waterloo and Dorking will be cancelled
  • Trains between London Waterloo and Hampton Court will be cancelled
  • Circular trains to / from London Waterloo via Teddington and Strawberry Hill will be cancelled
  • Trains between London Waterloo and Guildford will call additionally at New Malden and Raynes Park
  • All West of England services will start and terminate at Basingstoke

SRW said its passengers can use their tickets on alternative routes run by Southern Railway (between Clapham Junction and Dorking), TFL buses (between London Waterloo and Leatherhead), London Underground, Great Western Railway (via any reasonable route), Cross Country (between Reading and Bournemouth) and the London Overground (in the Clapham Junction/Richmond area).

The disruption comes as commuters faced chaos to their journeys on Monday morning due to the cold weather.

Some took to social media to express their frustration at seeing services disrupted first because of snowfall, and then as a result of a fire: