LEAVES on the line have been causing problems for Fareham-bound commuters, despite the fact that Railtrack have two super new leafbuster machines.

Frustrated passengers who should have arrived at the town station at 7.59am yesterday turned up more than an hour late.

And Portsmouth-bound train users were told to disembark at Fareham and had to complete the rest of their journey by bus.

Danielle Baillie, 33, who works for Fareham Borough Council and boarded the already-delayed train at Bitterne, said: "It was going slower than a one-legged granny. I could have walked faster than the train at times."

"Even the driver was getting out to put grit on the track."

The 33-year-old, who was also caught up in an incident last month when a train braked suddenly after over-shooting Bursledon Station, said of the tedious trip: "We seemed to stop every ten minutes or so and the guard kept announcing that this was because the unit was overheating.

"Everyone was fuming when they got off and most people made a bee line for compensation forms."

Keith Hawkins, from South West Trains, said: "There were serious leaf fall problems in the Swanwick area. We would like to apologise to our customers for the delay."

He said that the combination of light rain and fallen leaves made the tracks "like driving on black ice".

Railtrack spokesperson Alison Flynn said the service's leafbusters were being used in East Anglia at the moment.

There was no intention of sending them to clear the busy commuter line between Southampton and Portsmouth.

"We have to use them where we consider the problem to be the most serious."

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