South Western Railway passengers face more delays over damaged footbridge

South Western Railway passengers are being warned of more delays and cancelled trains because a footbridge on a key line to London Waterloo may be unsafe.

Commuters are already facing major disruption because of a landslip between Basingstoke and Woking. Now a damaged pedestrian footbridge is causing further problems.

Those travelling between Basingstoke and Woking are being warned that short notice cancellations are likely.

A Network Rail spokesperson said, "We're really sorry for the disruption to South Western Railway customers after our engineers discovered structural defects to a pedestrian footbridge over the railway near Woking on Sunday."

"We closed the bridge and the railway immediately to keep everyone safe while we carried out a thorough inspection."

There was major disruption last night as all lines in the Brookwood area were closed affecting routes to Surrey, Hampshire, Dorset and Wiltshire.

Scaffolding has been put up overnight to secure it but trains are running at much slower speeds meaning fewer trains can run. 

“We closed the railway at 7pm so we could start work to make the railway safe. While initially we had planned to remove the footbridge overnight, there was a risk we wouldn’t be able to get the work done without delaying customers in the morning."

“Instead, we’ve chosen to erect scaffolding and supports to keep the bridge safe so trains can still run through the area, albeit at a reduced speed."

The footbridge will be taken down on Wednesday when a reduced number of services are expected to run due to the ASLEF strike, and engineers will also be working on a nearby landslip. 

South Western Railway has apologised for the disruption.

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