Train chaos in Richmond and surrounding areas this evening (From Richmond and Twickenham Times)

Train chaos in Richmond and surrounding areas this evening

5:59pm Wednesday 9th January 2013 in News By Amy Dyduch

Commuters will face severe delays this evening as a track circuit failure has affected Waterloo services from Richmond and Hounslow, South West Trains has warned.

It advised passengers to use other modes of transport, such as London buses or London Underground services between Richmond and London.

A spokesman for Network Rail said all passengers on its network would face significant delays as a result.

The spokesman said: “There has been a track circuit failure which is part of the kit that helps us out where trains are in the network.

“Our response teams are on their way and are trying to fix the problem as quickly as possible but there will be quite severe disruption.”

Services from London to Richmond will also be affected due to the trains being in the wrong place.

A spokesman for the South West Trains-Network Rail Alliance said: "A signalling problem is currently causing disruption at Barnes. As a result, services from London Waterloo to Richmond and Twickenham via Brentford are currently suspended and journey times may be extended by up to 60 minutes. We would like to apologise to customers whose journeys are affected by this issue.”

South West Trains confirmed the disruption was expected to continue until the end of service today, January 9.

Passenger updates are being provided at southwesttrains.co.uk and on Twitter @SW_Trains by following the hashtag #Barnes.

Customers can also use the National Rail enquiries' real-time Journey Planner, or call TrainTracker on 0871 2004950.