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South West Trains delays: Rail company admits it cannot respond to 'everyone' after major London disruption centred at Waterloo station

A passenger waits for a train to depart from Waterloo railway station: Getty Images
A passenger waits for a train to depart from Waterloo railway station: Getty Images

South West Trains (SWT) admitted it was "unable to respond to everyone" after it received a flurry of complaints about delays.

After the company warned that services could be delayed by up to 90 minutes and some trains would be cancelled because of a signal failure, commuters took to social media to complain.

SWT later tweeted: Due to a large volume of tweets we are unable to respond to everyone".

A signal failure in South West London near Earlsfield meant that hundreds of passengers travelling to Waterloo were delayed.

A message to passengers said they were "strongly" advised not to travel to the station.

"If you do travel, please consider alternative arrangements and use other train operating companies," it said. "A queueing system may be implemented at your local station to help us get you to where you need to go safely."

Existing delays were due to a track defect on the fast line at Byfleet and New Haw between Woking and Surbiton, with some London-bound lines blocked.

A planned maintenance check found the fault, and as a result trains running non-stop from Woking to Clapham junction and London Waterloo were blocked from Woking to Weybridge.

Other trains using the line were diverted to a slower one, resulting in further delays.

Commuters vented their frustrations online.

One, Ross Wightman said: “Absolutely useless information as usual.”

Another, Jen, wrote on Twitter: “No one at the ticket kiosk in Esher – great customer service on a morning of major disruption – dreading August already!”

A spokesperson for South West Trains confirmed that while the issue is resolved, residual delays are to be expected on the line.

"We are very sorry for the disruption being experienced by our passengers today," they told The Independent. "This is as a result of a signalling system failure in the Earlsfied area and urgent work to repair a fault affecting a set of points in the Byfleet & New Haw area.

"Network Rail engineers have restored the signalling and we are working hard to get trains back into circulation around the network.

"Detailed travel advice for passengers is being regularly updated on our website and Twitter feed and we have also deployed extra staff at key stations to help customers."

The Waterloo and South West Upgrade project will take place between the 5 and 28 August, and as a result, Waterloo station will be closed.

Season ticket holders have created a petition after it was revealed that South West Trains will not be offering compensation for the month.