NETWORK Rail is advising passengers planning on travelling on the South Western Main Line on Wednesday morning to "check before they travel" due to an issue with the signalling system between Surbiton and Woking.

The rail provider has warned the fault may affect passengers travelling on the line into London Waterloo, including those seeking to board Waterloo-bound trains from Farnham.

A Network Rail spokesman said: "Engineers are on site and are working to resolve the issue as quickly as possible, but the issue means that a reduced service will be in place for passengers and they are strongly advised to check before they travel via National Rail Enquiries or with their train operator.

"Network Rail would like to apologise for any disruption this is causing and thank passengers for their patience whilst we work to resolve this."

It comes as rail passengers on the Alton to Waterloo line via Farnham have already been hit by a duo of strike action and engineering works from Tuesday to Saturday this week.

Commuters, travelling on the line between Alton and Farnham, will be forced to swap the train for the bus from October 23 to up to and including October 27 as work is undertaken by Network Rail to strengthen the embankment and the track.

In addition, a reduced service will run on most of the South Western Railway (SWR) network over the same period, with RMT members poised to stage a five-day walkout in an escalation of the union’s dispute over the role of guards.