RAIL passengers on the Weymouth to Waterloo line have been warned to expect disruption following a signalling failure.

South Western Railway said at about 8.30am that, due to a signalling failure in the Bournemouth area which was affecting all signals in the area, all lines from Brockenhurst to Weymouth were blocked.

The signalling problem has now been fixed and some lines have been reopened, but there is currently a tree on the line at Branksome meaning that the line between Weymouth and Bournemouth remains blocked.

Due to the length of time that the line was blocked there will continue to be delays due to the displacement of train stock. South Western says it is working to get the train service back to schedule, but the rail company may be required to terminate and start trains away from their booked station.

Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled, delayed or revised. Disruption is expected until the end of the day.

Until further notice trains will be terminating and starting from Southampton Central.

A train shuttle service will be operating between Southampton Central and Brockenhurst.

The rail company has said that tickets will be accepted, at no extra cost, on the following services:

- Great Western Railway between Weymouth, Upwey, Dorchester West and Salisbury. Please change at Salisbury for onward South Western Railway services towards Basingstoke, Woking, Clapham Junction and London Waterloo. You can change at Basingstoke for stations towards Brockenhurst.

- Cross Country trains between Bournemouth and Reading

South Western has requested replacement buses to call at all stations (in both directions) between Brockenhurst and Weymouth, once these are confirmed we will update this message.

If you would prefer to use local buses to continue your journey please check Traveline (http://www.traveline.info/) - South Western Railway tickets.

Have you been delayed? Please see https://www.southwesternrailway.com/contact-and-help/refunds-and-compensation for our compensation policy.