Fire next to track blocks train line to Guildford

A fire next to the track between Haslemere and Guildford caused trains in Surrey to be cancelled and delayed on Wednesday morning.

South Western Railway said the line towards Guildford was blocked as of about 06:30 BST.

It said that lines had reopened as of about 08:30.

Disruption on the line is expected until 10:00, with the rail firm advising customers to speak to a member of staff or use a station help point for onward travel advice.

It added that it would update travellers with more information on its X account.

Lee Osborne, who said he worked for the railways fixing track, was among those caught up in the disruption.

Having set off from Havant at 05:30 to get to Waterloo, his first train got stuck outside Godalming so he had to find an alternative route to switch at Guildford.

"Luckily, there was a guy out the front whose wife was coming to pick him up to bring him to Guildford and gave us a lift to get here. That was very nice of him," he said.

Network Rail said it was made aware of a fire by the tracks near Godalming shortly before 06:20.

"Our first responders were able to access the site by 7am and put the fire out before conducting a safety check in order to open the railway to passengers, which was achieved around 8am," it added in a statement.

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