Portsmouth and Southampton train delays: Points failure causing cancellations and delays with issue expected to run into the weekend

A points failure is causing delays and cancellations between Southampton and Portsmouth this morning with the issue not expected to be resolved until tomorrow afternoon.

The failure is at Southampton Central on Friday, November 13 but it has been exacerbated by a signalling problem in Fratton. Commuters are being told that they are still able to travel, however they are being advised to check their journey for any delays or short notice changes.

The points failure is affecting the below services:

• South Western Railway between Southampton Central and Portsmouth & Southsea / Woking, and also between Fareham / Portsmouth Harbour and London Waterloo
• Southern between Southampton Central and Brighton
• Great Western Railway between Cardiff Central / Bristol Temple Meads and Portsmouth Harbour

A South Western Railway spokesperson said: “Engineers have attended the fault overnight however they need to complete further testing. There is also a signalling problem at Fratton which means that all services heading towards towards Cosham and Havant will have to use platform 2 instead of platform 1, which may add small delays to services through this station.

“London Waterloo to Portsmouth Harbour via Eastleigh services are now able to run as booked, however delays and short notice alteration could happen as stock and crew could be displaced during the disruption. Please check your journey before travelling.

“Services between Portsmouth Harbour to London Waterloo via Guildford will be unaffected by the ongoing issue itself however knock on delays to other services in the Portsmouth area may delay these services due to congestion.”

Southern have advised customers that their service between Southampton and Brighton has been affected and will now run between Bognor Regis and Brighton. They are expected delays of up to 20 minutes for passengers with more changes expected on the journey. Passengers heading from Southampton should try to get to Portsmouth & Southsea or Fratton to find a direct train to Brighton or change at Barnham.

The delays are a continuation of the signalling issue between Cosham and Fratton which affected services yesterday. The disruption is expected to last until the end of the day on Saturday, November 14.

More details on the disruption can be found on the National Rail website.