Andy Munns
South Western Railway (SWR) services through Salisbury are expected to be significantly disrupted for the second day.
Services through the city’s station were disrupted yesterday afternoon due to emergency services dealing with an incident in the Basingstoke area meaning many trains were delayed, altered or cancelled.
In addition, SWR said, “More trains than usual needing repairs at the same time between Basingstoke and Exeter St Davids trains have to run at reduced speed on all lines. Train services running through these stations may be delayed or revised.”
This second reason for yesterday’s delays continues today (21st April), with many SWR trains showing as cancelled or altered through Salisbury.
A spokesperson for SWR told Salisbury Radio, “On Wednesday, a small number of trains operating from depots in Salisbury and Exeter began to report performance problems. On Thursday, it was discovered that the problem was linked to the trains’ fuel, with those trains unable to reach their normal top speeds.
“The issue is now under investigation and the affected trains have been taken out of service for inspection and maintenance. As a result, there are fewer trains available to provide the usual number of services on the West of England Line, in the Romsey area, and other destinations west of Salisbury.
Stuart Meek, SWR’s Chief Operating Officer, said: “We’re very sorry for the disruption that will be felt by our customers on the West of England Line, in the Romsey area and other destinations west of Salisbury. Over the last two days some services have suffered delays due to a fuel problem and so we have had no choice but to withdraw the affected trains.
“With fewer trains available and a risk of delays, which would have a knock-on effect on the wider network, we have had to make the difficult decision to operate an amended timetable. While we appreciate it is frustrating that fewer services will be operating, this timetable does give our customers a service they can have confidence in.
“We really appreciate our customers’ patience and advise them to check before travelling. We will provide an update when we know we can reinstate the usual timetable and run services as normal.”
The 8:46 train to Basingstoke appears to be the first train to head up the mainline towards London Waterloo. However, passengers will need to connect at Basingstoke to continue towards London.
This continues throughout the day, with no direct services to London Waterloo from Salisbury.
There appears to be slightly better news for those travelling west towards Yeovil and Exeter, with the 6:10 due to run as normal. However, every other train run by SWR is cancelled, halving the services throughout the majority of the day.
Passengers travelling towards Romsey and Southampton, especially the smaller stations like Dean, Motisfont and Dunbridge, and Chandlers Ford, will also have reduced options.
SWR has cancelled almost half the services running around Romsey, Southampton and Chandlers Ford – although there are GWR services to Southampton, these don’t stop at all stations.
It’s advisable to check before you travel from Salisbury train station today (21st April)
