Waterloo train derails causing rush hour chaos

Severe delays into tomorrow

A train derailed near Waterloo station this morning which sparked rush hour chaos that will continue into tomorrow.

Transport for London said in a statement that a very limited service is running to and from London Waterloo station, and this is expected to continue for the rest of today and tomorrow and warned passengers to avoid the station and to ‘check before you travel on South West Train’s website.’

#WATERLOO. COULDN’T GET THERE IF I WANTED TO. pic.twitter.com/L9lFYkBjuk

— South West Pains (@SW_Pains) August 15, 2017

The train partly left the tracks as it was leaving the station at low speed at 05:40 BST, Network Rail said.

I’m no expert.. But i’m sure that’s not meant to be like that… #Waterloopic.twitter.com/DS0wRv7NKL

— Jonnie (@JonniePage) August 15, 2017

Three people were treated following the incident but the London Ambulance Service said: ‘thankfully they did not need to go to hospital’.

We checked over three patients following the train derailment at #Waterloo this morning. Thankfully they did not need to go to hospital.

— London Ambulance (@Ldn_Ambulance) August 15, 2017

SWT issued a statement saying: “An earlier points failure and an unrelated low speed, partial derailment has caused extensive disruption to services’ this morning.”

“We are strongly advising you not to travel on our network today.”

#DisruptionSWT– low speed partial derailment between @LondonWaterloo & Vauxhall, all services are disrupted all day https://t.co/uyXDr2ITly

— South West Trains (@SW_Trains) August 15, 2017

 SWT saidtrain services running to and from these stations will be cancelled, delayed or revised and disruption is expected until the end of the day.

Tickets are being accepted on all TFL buses, and all services to London Paddington and London Victoria.

Derailment @LondonWaterloo @SW_Trains #DisruptionSWT#Waterloopic.twitter.com/3UathlfC2N

— Rebecca Middleton (@goonerbec) August 15, 2017

It comes after engineering work has been causing severe disruption as ten of the platforms at Waterloo station are closed while major works are carried out to enlarge capacity.

The £800million project will allow the station to accommodate longer trains and provide space for 30 per cent extra passengers during the busiest times of the day.

The station usually has an average of 270,000 journeys made to and from it each day and is  one of the busiest in the UK.