Rail chaos ( again!)
Hundreds of thousands can’t get to jobs as engineering works over-run
‘We’re not all travelling for fun’
HUNDREDS of thousands of commuters endured ‘ Monday mayhem’ on another day of rail chaos yesterday.
Over-running engineering works meant hundreds of journeys were delayed or cancelled on South Western, Southern and Thameslink.
All South Western trains were cancelled between Surbiton and London Waterloo – the UK’s busiest railway station. A key commuter route in and out of London Victoria was also severely disrupted. Passengers setting off on their rush-hour journey on South Western were urged not to travel or to delay their trip, and warned that the disruption would last all day.
The work near Surbiton was meant to have been completed by Network Rail engineers at 4.30am yesterday, but was not finished until more than five hours later. This meant Network Rail was unable to open lines between Weybridge and Waterloo until after 9.30am.
Several stations usually packed with rush-hour commuters were closed in the morning peak, including Woking, Surbiton, Raynes Park and Earlsfield.
South Western said it warned passengers about the disruption at 4am, and issued the ‘do not travel advice’ on social media and on its website shortly after 6am. But campaign group Transport Focus said it was ‘unacceptable’.
The result was that passengers, including those who have paid almost £3,600 for a season ticket from Woking to Waterloo, turned up at their local station only to be told they would have to find another way to get to work.
Data published by rail information website trains.im showed that at 10.45am, 269 South Western trains were cancelled or more than 30 minutes late, equivalent to three quarters of all services. No bus replacement services were laid on but passengers were told their tickets would be valid on other trains and buses.
As South Western struggled to deal with a torrent of complaints on social media, one passenger summed up the feelings of many. Rachel Maitland wrote on Twitter: ‘South Western Railway advising not to travel... that’s great but it’s Monday morning, so we’re not all travelling for fun. We have jobs to get to!’
Anthony Smith, chief executive of Transport Focus, said both South Western and Network Rail – which looks after Britain’s rail infrastructure – were at fault.
The row heaps pressure on Network Rail’s new £588,000-a-year chief executive Andrew Haines, and Matthew Gregory, who was appointed last week as boss of First Group, which operates South Western, on a package worth up to £3 million.
Mr Smith said: ‘Passengers rely on the railway – this morning tens of thousands of passengers coming into Waterloo could not. Such late notice of the fundamental problems on the approaches to Waterloo this morning is unacceptable.’
Southern services between East Croydon and London Victoria were also disrupted because of over-running engineering works. Passengers were told that trains across the entire Southern and Thameslink networks may be delayed, cancelled or revised yesterday morning due to over-running engineering work.
Last month, a ‘bullet’ train tore down cables during a test run, and thousands of passengers were left stranded as services in and out of London Paddington were cancelled. Network Rail and South Western apologised for the disruptions last night.