SOUTH Western Railway has issued a do not travel message for travellers to London Waterloo this morning.

A major signalling problem in the Waterloo area means a significantly reduced service will operate to and from London Waterloo on a very limited number of lines.

It will affect the journeys of thousands of commuters who use the lines from Southampton through Winchester and Basingstoke, Alton and across from Salisbury.

One train was due to depart from Southampton Central station at 8.30am but the 9.30am service has been cancelled.

In Winchester, many commuters were forced to change their plans this morning. 

SWR staff were on-hand to assist people, but refused to give a comment to the Chronicle. 

One man, who works as an IT consultant in the capital, said that he hadn't known about the signal failure before leaving home, but had to option to work remotely.

Sandra James, 45, said she had been going to London to meet and friend for the day, but would now have to make alternative arrangements. 

According to SWR there is only one service an hour between Portsmouth and Southampton, one service hourly between Salisbury and Romsey via Southampton Central, and two services an hour between Brockenhurst and Lymington Pier.

London Waterloo is Britain's busiest railway station, with 41.4 million annual passengers.

Peter Williams, SWR's customer and commercial director, said today: "We are very sorry for the disruption this morning. Due to a major signalling problem, which is still under investigation, we are advising customers not to attempt to travel to or from London Waterloo this morning.

"Disruption is expected to last until the end of the day, with significantly fewer services able to run on a very limited number of lines. While the problem is in the Waterloo area we do expect the wider network to be affected as trains and their crews will be displaced. 

"If you are travelling on the wider network please check before you travel using a journey planner. Once again we're sorry for the disruption."

For the latest travel information please visit southwesternrailway.com/plan-my-journey.