- 50mph speed limit for safety will cause delays and cancellations
- High level of incidents anticipated across the network
- Customers strongly advised to consider whether their journey is essential and make other plans if they can
SWR is planning to operate services on all routes tomorrow, but still faces challenging weather conditions as the Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for Storm Franklin until the end of Monday.
With strong winds forecast, there will be a 50mph speed restriction across the SWR network on Monday to protect the safety of our customers and colleagues, causing delays and cancellations to services. We also anticipate further line blockages due to fallen trees and strongly advise our customers to consider whether their journey is essential before setting off. Regrettably we are unable to guarantee replacement travel services will be provided during this challenging time.
Customers should check and re-check their journey before travelling: https://www.southwesternrailway.com/plan-my-journey
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 to consider whether their journey is essential and make other plans if they can”
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 to consider if their journey is essential, and if it is, to check before travelling 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 and again ask them to check before travelling.”
Tickets booked for travel on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday will be accepted on Tuesday.
Since Friday’s winds of over 90mph, Network Rail have cleared more than 50 fallen trees from the South Western Railway region. With the wind direction expected to change it is very likely that more trees will come down during storm Franklin, having been weakened over the last two days
