South Western Railway is expecting a number of incidents today, Monday, 21st February, because of Storm Franklin and is urging passengers not to travel.
There were a number of incidents on its network on Sunday evening caused by high winds and is anticipating that there will be many more today.
Although the company will endeavour to run as many services as they safely can, strong winds and a 50 mph speed restriction will cause delays and cancellations throughout the day. Further line blockages are expected due to fallen trees, and weather conditions will likely hamper efforts to help stranded customers. Unfortunately, the company cannot guarantee that replacement bus services will be provided.
Tickets booked for travel today, as well as for last Friday, Saturday, and Sunday will be accepted tomorrow, Tuesday, 22nd February.
Since Friday's winds of over 90mph, Network Rail has cleared over 50 fallen trees from the South Western Railway region. Sunday evening's heavy wind and rain caused even more trees to block the lines and further damage to stations and infrastructure. It is expected that the wind direction will change today, so it is likely that during today's storm, more trees will come down, having been weakened over the last two days.
Christian Neill, Customer Experience Director for South Western Railway, said:
“We understand Monday marks the first day back from half term for many and we are sorry for the continuing disruption these storms are causing. It has been an incredibly challenging few days and our teams have been working tirelessly to clear the tracks to safely run as many trains as possible. With more severe weather expected on Monday, we are asking customers not to attempt to travel as we cannot guarantee to get them to their destination”
Mark Killick, Route Director for Network Rail, said:
“Storm Franklin is set to cause further disruption on our route so we're asking our customers not to travel on Monday. With strong winds approaching from a different direction, it's likely that trees weakened by Storm Eunice will be forced down and could block lines. The safety of our customers and our staff, who have worked around the clock since Friday to remove debris and repair damaged infrastructure, is our number one priority. I'd like to thank our customers for their patience over the last three days.”
