Commuters at London Waterloo, Britain's busiest railway station, faced severe disruption on Monday evening after a trackside fire forced the evacuation of parts of the station and brought services to a standstill. The fire, which occurred outside the station, damaged the signalling system and caused track circuit failures on three main lines, leading to delays of up to two hours and 20 minutes.
South Western Railway, which operates from Waterloo, cancelled all departing trains for a period and advised passengers not to travel. Huge crowds formed near ticket barriers as frustrated travellers struggled to find information about their journeys. Some passengers were stuck on trains for over an hour as services ground to a halt.
The fire affected platforms 1-3, which were taken out of service. Network Rail engineers managed to bring platforms 4-9 back into use, but a massive backlog of trains and passengers persisted. Services to destinations including Dorking, Hampton Court, and Chessington South were cancelled, while west of England services started and terminated at Basingstoke.
The disruption compounded problems caused by a winter storm that brought snow and ice to large parts of England and Wales, leading to widespread travel disruption on roads and railways. South Western Railway urged customers to allow extra time and check their journeys before travelling, and invited those delayed by 15 minutes or more to claim compensation.
