A rare Met Office red extreme heat warning has forced South Western Railway to terminate all London Waterloo to Weymouth services at Bournemouth station from Wednesday 24 June through Friday 26 June, leaving passengers with only an hourly shuttle to reach stops further west. The South Western Railway timetable cuts also cancel every stopping service between Winchester, Southampton Central and Bournemouth entirely.
Rail temperatures are expected to climb as much as 20 degrees above the air temperature, which the Met Office says will hit 37°C on Wednesday and 38°C on Thursday and Friday, likely breaking the UK June record of 35.6°C that has stood since 1976. The extreme heat threatens tracks, signals and embankments, and trains must crawl at reduced speeds to operate safely. Stuart Meek, chief operating officer for South Western Railway and Network Rail Wessex, said the operator had no choice but to extend the essential-travel-only message through Friday. “We are working hard to keep customers who need to travel moving, but the extreme temperatures mean we have to run a reduced timetable and there may be further short-notice changes,” he added.
The red warning, in force from 0900 on Wednesday through late Thursday night, is reserved for the most severe heat events and covers much of the South Western Railway network. Anyone holding a ticket dated for these three days can use it on any SWR service from Saturday 27 June until Tuesday 30 June, or claim a full fee-free refund. Passengers who must travel are urged to set off before midday, when conditions are cooler, to reduce the risk of being stranded as services thin out later in the day.
The shutdown turns Bournemouth station into a temporary terminus. The hourly shuttle to Weymouth is the only link beyond, while stops at places such as Pokesdown and Christchurch lose their direct London trains entirely. The same pressure is being felt across the country: other operators including Avanti West Coast and Great Western Railway have also introduced emergency timetables. With overnight temperatures staying above 20°C and high humidity amplifying the strain on both people and infrastructure, Network Rail continues to ask the public to avoid non-essential journeys while the red alert persists.
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