RAIL passengers face delays this evening as they head back to Hampshire from London, following emergency engineering works.

The South West Trains-Network Rail Alliance is advising passengers that a revised train service is planned between 4-8pm today as a result of emergency engineering work.

A points failure at London Waterloo and a track defect at Surbiton were discovered earlier today, during ongoing infrastructure inspections, but it has not been possible to repair the faults without causing wide spread disruption to train services throughout the rest of the day.

As both incidents have led to line closures, it is not possible to operate stopping services from London Waterloo to Woking.

In addition, West of England services that normally run from Waterloo to Salisbury will instead start from Basingstoke. Passengers are advised to check for alternative appropriate routes before travelling.

Deputy customer services director Arthur Pretorius said: “We apologise for any inconvenience caused this evening to our passengers. We're doing everything we can to minimise the disruption they will face.

“By putting these plans in place we hope it will give customers the opportunity to make alternative arrangements at an early stage to minimise the impact on their journeys."

Both defects will be repaired overnight and there are no changes anticipated to tomorrow's service.

Extra customer services staff will also be at Surbiton, Basingstoke, Richmond, Twickenham and Woking to help passengers with their journeys.