Train collides with engineering wagon as unrelated points failure prompts advice to avoid South West Trains for two days

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Passengers already battling disruption at the UK’s busiest railway station face yet more misery after being told to avoid London Waterloo altogether because of a train derailment.

Pictures on social media showed a train leaning against an engineering wagon. A joint statement from South West Trains and Network Rail, which manages the infrastructure, confirmed there had been a low-speed, partial derailment after the two vehicles collided as the commuter train left its platform.

There were also issues at King’s Cross station on Tuesday. The incidents came as passengers prepared for the steepest rail fare increase in recent years as it was announced that UK inflation, on which the price hikes are based, had risen to 3.6%.

About 40% of fares, including season tickets on commuter journeys, off-peak return tickets and “anytime” tickets in cities, will rise in line with the retail price index from January.

The London ambulance service, which examined three people after the Waterloo incident, said: “Thankfully, they did not need to go to hospital.”



A points failure on a line running into the station, which serves south-west and central London and is a major commuter route, meant services would be affected all day, the joint statement said.



The disruption is expected to last until the end of Wednesday, according to the South West Trains website. It said: “Trains are unable to use platforms one to 13 at London Waterloo and this reduction in available platforms means that many services will need to terminate before London Waterloo and many services will start away from London Waterloo.



“Most trains are experiencing severe delays and are subject to short-notice alterations. Disruption to services is expected to persist until the end of service on 16 August 2017.”



Passengers were being strongly advised not to travel on the South West Trains network on Tuesday or Wednesday.

According to the statement, the points issue and the derailment were unrelated.

British Transport police said it was “working with industry partners to investigate the circumstances and manage the situation with a view to returning Waterloo station to normal working as quickly as possible.”

A queueing system was in place during rush hour at some of the capital’s busiest stations as a result of the problems. Services between the capital and Exeter were beginning and ending at Reading, without entering London.



At King’s Cross, a train hit the buffers as it arrived at 6.20am on Tuesday. “The Rail Accident Investigation Branch has been informed,” said the operator, Great Northern.

Network Rail said two people reported minor injuries but “declined medical attention and left the station”. It is understood the train was taken out of service and will be examined by fitters before it is decided whether repair work will be required.

“We just all went flying. It’s as if while we were slowing down it kind of accelerated again,” said 36-year-old Natasha Coella, who was on the train. “No one expected it, and people just went from one end of the carriage to the other.”

On the same morning, a fire on a tube train shut down Holborn station, in central London. The alert was raised on a westbound Central line train, which runs from Essex, through the heart of London and on to the capital’s westernmost borough. The station has since reopened.

On Monday afternoon, a freight train partially derailed close to Ely, near Cambridge, forcing Greater Anglia to suspend rail services between Bury St Edmunds and Peterborough.