NETWORK Rail has apologised for the misery endured by rail passengers for much of yesterday.

Engineering works which overran saw trains to and from London Waterloo cancelled and delayed for much of the day.

South Western Railway, the main operator in Hampshire which runs services through Basingstoke and surrounding areas, had urged commuters not to travel due to cancellations.

 

Company bosses warned that as a result of overrunning engineering works in London, all lines were blocked between London Waterloo and Surbiton, while Woking, Surbiton, Raynes Park and Earlsfield stations were all closed.

The works had been scheduled to finish by 4.30am to allow time for trains to leave depots and get to stations around the county.

A spokesman for Network Rail said: “We are very sorry to passengers for the serious disruptions to services on the South Western Railway network.

“This was caused by our overrunning engineering work near Surbiton which meant we were unable to open a number of lines into Waterloo station until after 9.30am.

“We are working hard to return the train service to normal as soon as possible, but passengers should expect serious disruption for the rest of the day and continue to check before they travel.”