About 80,000 people use SWT to get to Waterloo each morning

South West Trains (SWT) services to Waterloo were cancelled, re-routed or delayed after the 14-ton crane collapsed on Sunday.

It delayed weekend engineering work at Clapham Junction in south London, which has one of the UK's busiest rail lines.

Two of SWT's four rail lines remain closed and disruption is expected to

continue until Thursday.

The Chessington line was suspended, but later a half-hourly service was running.

No trains are going between Alton and Waterloo and shuttle services are operating between Alton and Guilford.

Shuttle services are also running on other routes in south-east England while services from the west are starting and terminating at Basingstoke.

Around 80,000 people use SWT trains to get into Waterloo during the morning rush hour.

M25 DELAYS Junctions 12-15 are affected Widening seven miles of motorway will cost �147m Speed limits of 40mph will apply

Although the crane has now been removed, train passengers have been warned to expect disruption until Thursday.

South West Trains said it is working as hard as possible to minimise the disruption caused to passengers.

People are advised to contact National Rail Enquiries on 08457 48 49 50 for more information.

Drivers could face disruption on Monday evening as road works are due to start on a seven-mile stretch of the M25 in west London.

It will mark the start of a two-year �147m project to widen the motorway from four to five lanes between the junctions with the M3 and M4.

Four lanes will remain in use each way, but a 40mph speed limit imposed as they will be narrower than usual.

According to AA Roadwatch nearly 250,000 vehicles a day use the section - more than twice the number it was designed for.

A slip road into the new Terminal 5 (T5) at Heathrow is also being constructed.

Delays are also likely to affect the M4, M3, A3, A30 and A308.

The first day of my new job had started well Jo, Surrey

This morning there was a 20 minute queue just to enter the ticket office. Inside, there was a game of human snake as the various trails wound their way towards the single manned window and the single ticket machine (the other was out of order). Chinese whispers rebounded, "there are no trains". No trains? A call to the rail enquiry line revealed that there were trains, approx. 1 per hour, coming from the south and therefore rammed like never before. 1 hour later and although I was twenty yards nearer the platform, it was still a good hour away. I had given up. I walked home. The first day of my new job had started well. It may be fifteen miles, but tomorrow I am cycling. (Of course, to add insult to injury - and passengers to tube trains - cycles are no longer allowed on the SWT service).
Jo, Surrey

Waited 20 minutes for a train on Platform 8 at Clapham Junction to be told with 10 seconds notice that the delayed 0749 was now pulling in to Platform 10. To whom do I charge the �14 taxi fare it cost me to get in to work?
Dean, London

Despite not being able to get trains running it was good to see that South Waste Trains still managed to find the resources to post a dozen or so ticket inspectors at Waterloo this morning. I don't know what's more infuriating, the endless delays or being expected to provide proof I paid to be treated worse than a veal calf.
Dave Tankard, UK

The proposed road works are now leaving me thinking of changing my job Neil L, UK

What a nightmare! My car journey to work consists of M3 (Basingstoke) - M25 (Redhill) every day which at the best of times is a lottery to be at work on time. This journey is exactly where the road works will be causing delays for years rather than just a 6 hour delay on a train service. At least the majority of failures on the railways offer an alternative coach service. What about those of us that will have to endure substantial delays for the next couple of years? Will we be offered an alternative coach route? How about offering compensation to those that will be caught up in this by not having to pay road tax for the duration of work? The proposed road works are now leaving me thinking of changing my job.
Neil L, UK

Well, I arrived at the station this morning, expecting the fore-warned fare increases, to be happily surprised that SE Trains had not updated the automatic ticket machines! My train was delayed, the fare was the same - seems that Kent has been trapped in a time warp!
Donna, Kent

It took me three hours to get to work today, from leaving home in Surbiton to getting to Greenwich. I could have travelled to Paris in that time (and wish I had). Another South West Trains corker! Well done guys, and perfect timing for the first day back after Christmas.
Rachel Giles, Surbiton, UK

Lines into Waterloo ran a weekend timetable in the week following Christmas yet the weekday fare was applied. The train frequency was reduced such that only a lucky few did not have to stand. This week, many rail fares have gone up and we start the new year with massive delays. I'm considering moving house just to avoid using the trains!
Simon, London

In Spain, transport is considered a public service, and as such is financed by the taxation system for the benefit of those who live & work here and not to make a profit. Spain is now busy building an extensive high speed (AVE) network which is proving to be quick (330 KPH), reliable (5 minutes late and you receive a refund) and not too expensive (270km costs approx �40). Britain really should consider renationalising and then reinvesting in public transport for the benefit of everyone.
Anthony J, Barcelona, Spain

Having commuted for almost 10 years i am never surprised that the trains are always late or indeed cancelled. I was amazed however when on Saturday I went to the station to renew my season ticket to be told (after half an hour of scratching of heads) that they couldn't sell me one because they didn't know how much to charge due to the fare increases. If we did that in our business there wouldn't be a business.
Amanda Gregory, Henlow, Bedfordshire

First day back after the holidays I made the 2 mile walk to my nearest train station to find every single train into London had been cancelled. I was advised to try an alternative station (3 miles away) or to travel this afternoon. Whilst I appreciate that these things happen, I did have to get to work this morning, and found the lack of information and alternative options very frustrating. Not the ideal start to the new year, I got to work 2 hours late and am still unsure as to how and when I will get home this evening.
Gemma, Farnborough, England

Travelled back from Devon yesterday to find my train to Waterloo cancelled. Had to get there via Paddington and tube. Then waited 45 mins at Waterloo to get a train back to Kingston. This morning, I waited for over an hour to get a train to work, and to add insult to injury, the train fares have gone up! Lets hope South West Trains are not starting the year as they mean to go on!
Natalie, Kingston, UK

The fiasco of the railways is typical of the effects of transport policy of the last few decades Peter Fitzgerald, Aldershot, Hants, UK

The only thing that surprises me about this morning's issues is that our chaotic transport 'system' continues to make headlines when things go wrong. Until this country adopts a sensible, long-term policy towards planning and providing transport, such problems are going to carry on occurring.

The major difficulty in transport improvement is its sheer cost - many years of insufficient and short-term, ineffective policies by governments of all colours are responsible for the mess we are in today. After all, what good is the current work on the M25 going to achieve? It will ease traffic for a few years from the end of the work, but it is unlikely to be a long-term solution to the traffic problems in the area. A long-term approach to transport would be horrendously expensive and no benefits would be seen for many years - and would therefore have little benefit for the career(s) of the politician(s) concerned. The fiasco of the railways is typical of the effects of transport policy of the last few decades.
Peter Fitzgerald, Aldershot, Hants, UK

I thought Silverlink trains were bad until I used South West Trains this morning. It's an absolute joke - we have a third world train service in a first world country. What's more, I didn't see a single policeman - which is more than a little worrying.
Laura Haynes, Watford, UK

Why must it take twp years to widen a seven mile stretch of motorway? I'm all for it, but it wouldn't take this long in mainland Europe I'm sure of it! And as for the trains...
Jon, Brentwood, Essex

What a joke first day back at work and 3 and half hours to get to work. Well done just as our fares go up our waiting time does as well. No announcements - nothing. I want a mind reading kit for next Xmas!!
Wendy Ferguson, Surrey

UK media keeps repeating the idea that Britain's railways are poor and France's are an example. Why then was I able to travel on Eurostar, South Central, Thameslink, GNER, Virgin and Central during December visiting family and suffer no more than 10 minutes delay on any train, and NO missed connections, yet my last 3 TGV journeys to the South have notched up 6hours of delays in total?

Please remember that, once you get off the Main Lines, services don't run very often here whereas lucky Brits can expect a good frequency on most branch lines. Don't knock an excellent network just for the sake of it. Yes, there are always going to be problems, but allow for them rather than getting stressed.
David L. B, Paris, France

SW Trains missed an opportunity to earn a couple of brownie points between Xmas and New Year. They couldn't even run the so-called 'Saturday/Sunday' service to time, and usual 12-coach trains were reduced at times to 4 coaches. Perhaps trains like time off at Xmas too, but it meant that the much smaller number of commuters such as I still had to squeeze onto overcrowded late-running services, as we do for the other 51 weeks of the year. Thanks!
John F, Woking

Not only was my South West Train cancelled this morning and the subsequent one I caught was severely overcrowded but today South West trains had the nerve to increase their fares!! - just unbelievable. Having just got back from a few days in Germany and using their efficient, on time, clean, warm and modern trains I was brought down to earth with a huge bump this morning by South West Trains. Public transport in the UK is like travelling in a third world country.
Karen L, UK

My only assumption from travelling into Charing Cross this morning, was that, having increased the fare, the operator wanted to keep me on the train for longer (and enjoy the view of London Bridge) to make me feel I was receiving value for money. A nice start to 2004, thank you!
Steve B, London, UK

It's not all doom and gloom Leo, Croydon

Caught a tram (on time), into east Croydon. Caught a train (on time), into Victoria Caught a tube (no delay) to Euston. No Complaints, Just to show that it's not all doom and gloom.
Leo, Croydon

Made an effort to have a dedicated start to 2004 by getting to the office early. Earlsfield station completely shut at 7.00 with no information. Got to a heaving Clapham Junction in chaos. Half the trains seemed to be running, platform alterations aplenty, felt the good time relaxed feeling from the holiday evaporate. Did we expect anything less?
Matthew, London, England

The M25 is too close to London with no alternative for traffic wanting to get round to Kent and the ports. Provide an alternative to such traffic not wanting to go to London would help such congestion.
Chris, Glastonbury