Train services have been badly disrupted in the south of England after heavy rain caused floods in several areas.
Great Western Railway services from London Paddington were the worst affected, partly because floodwater had blocked the Berks & Hants line near Newbury, but also because police closed all four running lines on the main route to Bristol last night after someone had been killed by a train at Pangbourne.
Down trains towards Bristol, Cheltenham and the south west were held at Reading because neither route towards the west was open.
Thameslink trains are affected by a landslip at Arlesey on the East Coast Main Line, a flood between Gloucester and Lydney obstructed CrossCountry and Transport for Wales trains, while the Looe branch in Cornwall was blocked by floodwater near Sandplace. GWR provided a replacement bus service between Liskeard and Looe, but the buses could not approach some intermediate stations because roads in the Looe Valley were also flooded.
Early on Friday, National Rail reported that floods were blocking the lines between Swindon and Bristol Parkway, Reading and Taunton, and Didcot Parkway and Oxford, and that ‘minimal’ replacement services are running between Newbury and Bedwyn, Castle Cary and Taunton, and Didcot Parkway and Oxford.
South Western Railway also warned that its services would be disrupted because of the weather. The latest rain was falling on ground which had already been saturated by Storm Henk earlier in the week, and that as a result many trains were unable to run.
SWR expects water levels to drop today, but there were no trains running between Yeovil Junction and Exeter because of a landslip near Crewkerne, while a ‘precarious’ tree between Ash and Wanborough meant that trains between Guildford and Farnham were being cancelled until the tree could be removed. Another fallen tree was blocking the line between Horsham and Dorking, but this has now been cleared.
Elsewhere, Network Rail staff working overnight reported a landslip at Maidstone East, which is blocking some lines, and services are also suspended at Robertsbridge because of a landslip there.