Hook landslip: London-Basingstoke rail passengers face major disruptionon January 15, 2023 at 5:40 pm

- Advertisement -
- Advertisement -
- Advertisement -
- Advertisement -

The landslip in Hampshire has severely damaged the track between London Waterloo and Basingstoke.

The landslip near HookImage source, Network Rail

A “huge” landslip has caused a railway track to collapse, leaving passengers facing major disruption.

The 144ft-long (44m) landslip, which happened near Hook, in Hampshire, has damaged the main line from London Waterloo to Basingstoke.

Network Rail has asked passengers not to travel between London and south or west of Basingstoke on Monday.

It also said there would be “major changes to train services for some time” while repairs take place.

The slip, which left one track hanging in mid-air, means only two of the railway’s four tracks are passable, with both the intact tracks designed to be used by London-bound trains only.

‘Slid away’

Network Rail Wessex route director Mark Killick said it would have “a massive effect on customers”.

He said the main line to Basingstoke was the spine of the railway and there would be “knock-on impacts across the route”.

“We’re still assessing the damage and it’s difficult to put a detailed timescale in place, but we know it’s going to be at least a week,” he said.

Railway line without support after landslip

Image source, PA Media

Apologising for the “scale of the disruption”, he said passengers should check before they travel, not just on the affected section but all the way up the line to London Waterloo.

“We will need to stabilise the embankment, essentially stopping it moving, and then rebuild the railway where it has slid away,” he said.

The slip happened when the soil gave way along a section of the embankment to the north-east of Hook station and slide out from underneath the tracks.

Network Rail said it was working on designs for the work needed to repair the railway, which would then give a clearer idea of timescales involved.

It added that a plan to provide journey options was set to be published “as soon as possible”.

Presentational grey line

Follow BBC South on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Send your story ideas to south.newsonline@bbc.co.uk.

Related Internet Links

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
- Advertisement -

Discover

Sponsor

Latest

Nobel Peace Prize: Journalists Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov share awardon October 8, 2021 at 9:41 am

The Philippine and Russian editors win jointly for their fight to defend freedom of expression.Ms Ressa, who co-founded the news site Rappler, was commended...

‘I had ÂŁ8,000 stolen but Revolut won’t refund it’on December 5, 2022 at 4:43 pm

The BBC speaks to people who have had difficulty getting refunds from the electronic money firm.The BBC speaks to people who have had difficulty...

‘That is unheard of!’ – reaction to GB boat’s near-crashon July 28, 2021 at 6:54 am

How did Great Britain's men's four, poised for a push for gold, go so badly wrong in the closing stages?

Children’s futures at risk as more put to work – UNon September 3, 2023 at 11:06 pm

The head of the UN agency says the world needs to act fast to get children out of exploitative work.By Alice CuddyBBC NewsThe future...

Euro 2022: Attendance record broken for Women’s Euros with 15 games lefton July 14, 2022 at 9:29 pm

Euro 2022 breaks the record for the total attendance at a European Women's Championship - despite still being in the group stage.Euro 2022 breaks...