South Western Railway sends travel warning to commuters as Storm Franklin brings more chaos to New Forest and Christchurch

SOUTH Western Railway is urging people not to travel today (Monday) as Storm Franklin brings more strong winds across the New Forest and Christchurch after its battering by Storm Eunice.

The warning follows a disruptive weekend which has seen more than 50 trees having to be cleared from SWR lines, and it comes as trains continue to run under a 50mph speed restriction.

Although SWR vowed it was working hard to run as many services as it safely can, it stressed delays and cancellations were expected throughout the day due to the high winds and speed restrictions.

With the winds travelling from an opposite direction to those brought by Eunice, people are warned this could bring down more weakened trees and branches, blocking more lines.

Weather conditions are likely to hamper efforts to help stranded customers, and SWR stressed it cannot guarantee replacement travel services.

Customer experience director Christian Neill said: “We understand Monday marks the first day back from half term for many and we are sorry for the continuing disruption these storms are causing.

“It has been an incredibly challenging few days and our teams have been working tirelessly to clear the tracks to safely run as many trains as possible.

“With more severe weather expected on Monday, we are asking customers not to attempt to travel as we cannot guarantee to get them to their destination.”

Network Rail has joined in with the advice not to travel, with route director Mark Killick saying: “The safety of our customers and our staff, who have worked around the clock since Friday to remove debris and repair damaged infrastructure, is our number one priority.

“I’d like to thank our customers for their patience over the last three days.”

SWR said tickets booked for travel on Friday, Saturday, yesterday and today will be accepted on its services tomorrow.