London Waterloo disruption live: Passengers stranded as SWR issue update on ‘do not travel’ warning – UK Times

Disruption is now expected to last until 9pm.

Both National Rail and Southwestern Railway advised passengers to expect delays and cancellations into the late evening.

Earlier, disruption was only expected to last until 4pm.

Waterloo is one of the busiest stations in the UK, serving as a key entry point to London for commuters.

According to the Office of Rail and Road, it is the fourth busiest train station in the country – with an estimated 62.5 million and exits in 2023/24.

South Western Railway was the first operator brought into public ownership by the Labour Government in May, with a second train company – Operator c2c – nationalised by Labour on Sunday.

Operator c2c runs services between London Fenchurch Street and south Essex.

“We have identified the cause of the signalling problem at London Waterloo and it has been fixed, however, we are still advising customers not to travel.

“With so many trains and their crews out of position, only a limited number of train services will be reintroduced over the coming hours.

“Our teams are now focused on getting trains and crews into the right place to run a reliable service for the afternoon and evening peak.

“We are very sorry for the disruption today. Please continue to check for updates.”

South Western Railway has confirmed the major signal failure at London’s Waterloo station has been fixed – but warned passengers still not to travel today.

In an update at 10:15am, SWR said: “With so many trains and their crews out of position, only a limited number of train services will be reintroduced over the coming hours.”

National Rail has issued an update, warning customers major disruption at Waterloo is expected until at least 4pm.

It said: “We have been informed of a signalling problem at London Waterloo. This means that trains are unable to use platforms 1 to 14.

“Passengers are advised NOT TO TRAVEL to and from this station until further notice.

“Services in and out of London Waterloo will be subject to cancellations, platform changes and major service alteration. Please check before boarding your service for platform change.”

There are 24 platforms in total at Waterloo station.

On Monday, 14 of these have been closed as a result of a major signal failure.

Elsewhere in London, more disruption has been reported this morning.

In east London, Mile End station has been closed since the early hours in the morning due to a police investigation.

Rail passengers have taken to social media to share their frustration as they face disruption all day on Monday.

Angry customers have complained of the situation being a “total shambles” while another said they were “totally disgusted and distraught”.

Another said they were stranded at Salisbury “with no assistance whatsoever” after beginning their journey before the cancellations.