Rail disruption expected all day after points failure between Havant and Portsmouth

The incident which occurred at 6.41am at Portsmouth and Southsea station is preventing trains moving in and out of platforms three and four and is leading to delays on services provided by Great Western Railway (GWR), South Western Railway (SWR) and Southern Rail.

National Rail has said '˜engineers are currently onsite', but because of the '˜nature of the repairs required', disruption is '˜likely to go on for the remainder of the day'. 

The firm said the incident means '˜fewer trains are able to run on all lines' between Havant and Portsmouth Harbour.

In a description on its website, it added: '˜Train services running to and from these stations will be cancelled, delayed or revised.' 

Southern services scheduled to terminate at Portsmouth and Southsea will terminate at Fratton '˜where possible', while Southern services scheduled to terminate at Portsmouth Harbour will run as booked.

As a result, Southern customers can use their tickets on GWR and SWR services between Fratton and Portsmouth Harbour. 

National Rail has said trains travelling the following routes could be affected by the points failure today: 

:: GWR services between Portsmouth Harbour and Cardiff Central / Brighton / Westbury / Bristol Temple Meads

:: SWR services between Portsmouth Harbour and Eastleigh / Basingstoke / London Waterloo, and between Portsmouth and Southsea and Southampton Central

:: Southern services between Portsmouth Harbour and Littlehampton / Brighton and between Fratton and Littlehampton

The failure also comes as RMT union members strike today. 

Points are movable pieces of track which allow trains to travel from one line to another. .