ANOTHER day of disruption across Wokingham and Reading is expected tomorrow thanks to Storm Franklin.
High winds and heavy rain are forecast overnight through to the afternoon of Monday, February 20, and the Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for wind.
As a result, train companies are planning to operate with a 50mph speed restriction.
South Western Railway (SWR) says that this is for safety reasons.
On Friday, Storm Eunice caused a number of trees to fall onto lines, including one at Bracknell Station.
It is anticipated that Storm Franklin will have a similar effect, and the company strongly advises passengers to consider if the planned journey is essential before setting off, and warns that it is unable to guarantee replacement travel services will be provided.
Christian Neill, SWR’s customer experience director, said: “We understand Monday marks the first day back from half term for many and we are sorry for the continuing disruption these storms are causing.
“It has been an incredibly challenging few days and our teams have been working tirelessly to clear the tracks to safely run as many trains as possible.
“With more severe weather expected on Monday, we are asking customers to consider whether their journey is essential and make other plans if they can.”
Since Friday’s winds of over 90mph, Network Rail have cleared more than 50 fallen trees from the South Western Railway region.
With the wind direction expected to change it is very likely that more trees will come down during storm Franklin, having been weakened over the last two days
Mark Killick, Route Director for Network Rail warned: “Storm Franklin is set to cause further disruption on our route so we’re asking our customers to consider if their journey is essential, and if it is, to check before travelling on Monday. With strong winds approaching from a different direction, it’s likely that trees weakened by Storm Eunice will be forced down and could block lines.
“The safety of our customers and our staff, who have worked around the clock since Friday to remove debris and repair damaged infrastructure, is our number one priority. I’d like to thank our customers for their patience over the last three days and again ask them to check before travelling.”
Tickets booked for travel on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday will be accepted on Tuesday.
Passengers should check and re-check their journey before travelling: https://www.southwesternrailway.com/plan-my-journey
