Police evacuate Barnham crew depot leaving passengers facing 'severe delays' and services cancelled

Police officers are attending an incident at Barnham station which took place last night (July 3), with services across the south coast impacted. Train journeys, including Portsmouth routes, are delayed and cancelled with passengers advised to allow for an extra hour’s travel this morning.

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In a social media post, a Southern Rail spokesperson said: ‘The police are currently dealing with an incident in the Barnham area which has caused structural damage to a train crew depot building. This has had to be evacuated for safety reasons and staff are awaiting an update from the local council with regards to sending a structural engineer. The update will not be until their offices open after 09:00.

‘Barnham train crew depot is a major personnel and equipment hub for our drivers and on-train staff. A large number of train crew are unable to start their duties this morning, which will severely affect services throughout the west coast area into the rest of the day.’ Most National Rails services across the West Coast rely on crew from Barnham Depot.

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Among the disrupted routes are trains between Chichester and Portsmouth Harbour, which have been hit by severe delays.

You can find out how your journey is affected by using National Rail’s live map. This incident comes as services already face pressure from ASLEF industrial action taking place across the region.

More details to follow.