RAIL chiefs have drafted in a fleet of taxis to transport passengers following the 'chaotic' cancellation of trains between Bournemouth and Weymouth.

Buses are replacing trains for a second day following a 'significant power failure' of the National Grid power supply, which has stopped trains running through most of Dorset on Tuesday and again today.

Instead train ticket holders are boarding coaches, but as this is not to a specific timetable, taxis are continuing to roll into Poole station's taxi rank, calling out for passengers travelling to either Bournemouth or Dorchester South.

National Rail said engineers worked through the night to try and solve the issues.

One taxi driver said that he had already completed two journeys to Bournemouth and back by 9am, while another said: "I've been driving from Poole since 5am and had done four rounds by 9am. It's completely out of the blue."

Frustrated train passenger, Darren Wells, from Parkstone said that he was supposed to have been caring for his children on Tuesday evening but could not get there due to the trains being cancelled.

He added: "When I looked on the app on my phone about 10 minutes before I left, I use it all the time, and it said that trains were delayed but it didn't say that they were cancelled.

"My daughter had to go to nursery this morning but she was with my ex-partner until I could get there. I haven't seen my children for a couple of days now.

"They were putting on taxis in Poole on Tuesday afternoon, but there was a queue of about 75 people waiting for them."

Another passenger said: "I was delayed on Tuesday night and it was chaos. This morning I was trying to get to Bournemouth for a meeting. It's not great."

An older lady said that she was trying to get a train to Southampton to visit her grandson. She added: "Apparently there are limited trains from Bournemouth once I get a taxi there."

One woman, who said that she commutes from Poole to London every day, said: "At Bournemouth station on Tuesday night, we had to get off the train and literally run down the platform to get to another train."

A South West Trains spokesperson has said that the trains between London Waterloo and Weymouth will remain significantly disrupted for some time following extensive damage to signalling equipment in Basingstoke.

They added: "Services between London Waterloo, Bournemouth and Weymouth will remain significantly disrupted for some time.

"We are not able to run trains between Branksome and Dorchester at this time, and our engineers are still working on a estimate for the repairs to these systems.

"A number of buses are in place and running between Dorchester and Bournemouth, however these are not running to a timetable at this time.

"Passengers may face a significant wait for replacement transport to arrive.

"We are attempting to source more buses, and will work to arrange a timetabled service so that you are able to plan your journey more effectively."

Disruption is expected until the end of service.