Cable theft causes major rail delays

Thousands of rail passengers suffered travel chaos this morning following a cable theft, leading to huge disruption into London’s Waterloo station.

The cable theft in the Basingstoke area resulted in severe signalling problems early this morning.

This was followed by a cracked rail just outside Waterloo, meaning services were heavily delayed and are still being affected.

The cracked rail line means emergency engineering works are causing disruption between Vauxhall and London Waterloo.

South West Trains’ Waterloo to Dorking services are cancelled throughout the day due to the problems.

There also are currently delays of up to 30 minutes between between Wimbledon and London Waterloo.

A signalling problem at Finsbury Park is also affecting First Capital Connect services.

A Network Rail spokesperson said:

“Because of the very congested nature of track in this area, engineers are unable to make repairs until overnight tonight, with this line being out for the rest of the day.

“This will mean some cancellations this evening and passengers are advised to check the South West Trains website for more details.”

A South West Trains spokesman said:

“We are extremely frustrated that our passengers’ journeys are being disrupted again this morning and we are sorry for the inconvenience this will cause.

“Network Rail engineers are working hard to repair the problems as soon as possible and we will keep our customers updated.”