Thread by @NetworkRailWssx

Today, passengers using the railway across the Southern region have had a pretty dreadful time of it due to some extreme weather across the area. Here's a thread about what happened and why.. @SW_Help @GWRHelp 1/11

@SW_Help @GWRHelp We have just endured one of the wettest autumns since records began more than 100 years ago. This, combined with a month’s worth of rainfall over the past five days, has put unprecedented strain on our railway network to do something it wasn’t designed to do. 2/11

@SW_Help @GWRHelp Severe flooding causes significant challenges for the railway. When the water rises above the rails, we have to stop trains, so it doesn’t take much. Flooding can also dislodge ballast, the stones which support the track, cause damage to electrical equipment which controls.. 3/11

@SW_Help @GWRHelp train movements, and can wash debris, like stones, twigs, leaves and mud onto the track or into drains, blocking them up, as we saw at St Catherine's tunnel.

@SW_Help @GWRHelp With passenger safety our priority, all of this needs to be inspected and any debris removed before train services can resume again. And when it comes it landslips, it’s not as simple as clearing the mud and trees away immediately, because we often have to wait for the... 5/

@SW_Help @GWRHelp ...ground to stop moving so as not to risk our colleagues’ safety. Even when it’s cleared, our geotechnical experts need to inspect the embankments or cuttings to check there is no further risk of slippage. 6/

@SW_Help @GWRHelp We know passengers have had an awful week and the last thing you want to hear is another apology, but everyone @networkrail is really sorry for all the problems we’re encountering, especially at this time of year. 7/11

@SW_Help @GWRHelp @networkrail We have literally thousands of people working tirelessly with colleagues across the rail industry to deliver the best service we can during these challenging events. But we know it will still be a difficult day for many and the bad weather could cause more problems... 8/11

@SW_Help @GWRHelp @networkrail over the weekend. With the situation fluid, we urge passengers to avoid travelling where you can, but if you absolutely need to, then please check before you travel at @nationalrailenq or with your train operators and leave extra time to complete your journey. 9/11

@SW_Help @GWRHelp @networkrail @nationalrailenq We hope you can appreciate that we’ve been dealing with a variety of complex issues today. Our teams are focused on fixing these problems at the moment to get you moving, so we won’t know the full details until next week. 10/11

@SW_Help @GWRHelp @networkrail @nationalrailenq Thank you for your immense patience during what's been an extremely difficult week. A short summary of each of the incidents affecting the network due to the weather is here: networkrail.co.uk/running-the-ra… 11/11 Ends.