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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
World
Neil Lancefield

Swans cause disruption for south-west London commuters for second day in a row

Train passengers have been disrupted by a swan on the line for a second day in a row.

South Western Railway said “a swan on the line” is affecting services in south-west London between Clapham Junction and Wimbledon.

This issue caused a number of services to be cancelled and delayed on Thursday morning.

One of the affected passengers was reportedly a judge who was late for a hearing at Guildford Crown Court.

It comes a day after South Western Railway was disrupted by a swan on the line between Kingston and Hampton Wick, also in south-west London.

Asked on social media platform X - formerly known as Twitter - if the same swan was responsible for both incidents, the operator replied: “no I don’t think so”.

In June, a major section of the £19 billion Elizabeth line between Heathrow Airport in west London and Abbey Wood in south-east London was blocked because of a swan.

Reports of animals on train tracks usually lead to services being stopped or running at reduced speeds.

South Western Railway services were also disrupted on Thursday by a points failure at Woking, Surrey and a signalling fault between Bournemouth, Dorset and Brockenhurst, Hampshire.

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