Waterloo station delays: South Western Railway commuters face second day of chaos as disruption threatens evening rush hour

Commuters using London Waterloo have been hit with a second day of delays as major disruption threatens afternoon rush hour.

South Western Railway customers today faced hours of delays and cancellations in the aftermath of a trackside fire on Monday afternoon.

Major disruption is expected at Waterloo until 4pm as engineers work to return trains to the correct routes following a huge repair operation.

The fire temporarily left platforms one to nine of London’s busiest railway station out of action.

National Rail tweeted at 3am: “The line side fire outside London Waterloo, which occurred yesterday morning, has caused significant train stock displacement across the whole South Western Railway network. Consequently, this mornings train services may be cancelled, delayed or revised.”

A statement posted on National Rail’s website said: “South Western Railway are sorry the disruption to your journey yesterday and this morning.”

Passengers, who have been warned to check their journey before travelling, took to social media to vent their frustration.

Many complained of being left to stand in the cold due to overcrowding at the travel hub which is used by around 250,000 people each day.

One person wrote: “45 min waiting in the freezing cold waiting to get Waterloo #southwestpain #cantfeelmyfeet.”

Another added: “After 5 and a half hours negotiating trains in and out of Waterloo yesterday, fingers crossed for a smoother journey this morning.”

Journalist Lizzie Dearden tweeted on Monday: “I’ve been in Waterloo for more than three hours.

“I got on a train, it hasn’t moved for 20 minutes and now they have literally turned the train off and back on again to make it work.”