PETERSFIELD rail travellers can expect long delays, cancellations and disruptions to their journey for the rest of today (May 26).

A South West Trains spokesman said: “Due to a problem with the system which manages train services through a section of track between Godalming and Haslemere, trains have to run at reduced speed on the Portsmouth to Waterloo line.

“Train services running through Haslemere and Godalming, and on through Rowlands Castle, Petersfield, Liss and Liphook, may be cancelled, delayed by up to 20 minutes or revised until the end of the day.

“Some services may also be diverted via an alternative route or terminated and started back from different locations.”

The train company says the problems, which began on Thursday, May 25, have been caused by a fault in the system which allow signallers to see where trains are on the line.

The spokesman added: “We use this to make sure trains keep a safe distance apart. When a track circuit fails the trains are stopped until alternative signalling arrangements are introduced or the problem is fixed.

“Track circuits can fail for many reasons, from equipment failure, flood water and debris on the track, all of these problems cause a short circuit which effectively makes the train invisible to the signaller.

“After being unsuccessful so far in finding the fault, engineers remained on site and closed the line for more investigation.

“These investigations have been continuing all night but so far our teams have not been able to identify the root cause of the fault.

“Overnight teams have replaced several key pieces of track equipment and re welded rail joints in order to fix the circuit.

“The process of manually checking each section of track will continue into today, this will result in delays and alterations, and engineers will remain on site working to rectify the problem.

“To allow trains to proceed safely past the failure, the signal operators are manually checking that the track is clear and then verbally advising each train driver.

“We have altered services running from London Waterloo to Portsmouth so we advise you to check before you travel.”

Some services from London Waterloo to Portsmouth Harbour may be diverted and may not stop at all stations. For more information visit South West Trains website www.southwesttrains.co.uk