Thousands of commuters stranded as lines between Woking and London Waterloo blocked

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One of the UK’s busiest railway lines is blocked because of a critical monitor fault, inflicting difficulties for hundreds of Monday morning commuters.

It is believed a practice hit an object on the monitor.

South Western Railway (SWR) mentioned it’s unable to run any providers between Woking and London Waterloo. It urged passengers to keep away from making an attempt to journey on the route.

National Rail Enquiries mentioned: “Due to a serious issue with the track at Walton-on-Thames all lines are blocked.

“Please do not travel as there are no services currently operating.

“Disruption is expected to last until the end of the day.”

A spokesman mentioned: “At around 5.50am this morning, a South Western Railway train travelling towards London Waterloo struck an object in the Walton-on-Thames area.

“No-one was injured and all passengers were safely escorted from the train; however, the lines through the area are currently blocked while we investigate.

“Early investigations show the front wheels of the train are derailed, therefore it’s likely to take us some time to get the railway reopened.

“We’re really sorry for the disruption and will update customers on the repairs and timescale for reopening as we know more.”

Services are anticipated to be disrupted for the remainder of the day.

The disruption comes a day after rail fares throughout England and Wales rose by almost 5%.

The enhance in fares might add £190 to an annual season ticket from Woking to London, taking the associated fee from £3,880 to £4,070.

It might additionally see flexi season tickets for journey between Liverpool and Manchester on two days per week over a 12 months rising by £92.60 from £1,890 to £1,982.60.

ORR figures present the Westminster administration offered £4.4bn of funding to coach operators in Britain within the 12 months to the tip of March 2023.

Last July’s retail worth index measure of inflation, which is historically used to find out annual fare rises, was 9 per cent.

The shopper costs index, which is a extra generally used inflation determine, was 6.8 per cent in July 2023 however fell to 4 per cent in January. Westminster and the Welsh authorities set the cap for rises in regulated fares at 4.9 per cent.

These embrace season tickets on most commuter journeys, some off-peak return tickets on long-distance routes and versatile tickets for journey round main cities.