BUSES are still replacing trains between Poole and Weymouth due to a 'significant power failure' which continues to delay services - but without any kind of timetable.

Trains stopped running between Bournemouth and Weymouth last night following an failure of the electricity supply.

South West Trains advised passengers not to travel on the line after signalling was lost in the Basingstoke and Southampton areas, with trains delayed or cancelled.

Trains this morning will remain significantly disrupted for some time because there has been extensive damage to signalling equipment in Basingstoke.

A spokesman said: "Engineers have worked through the night to rectify the problems and bring the equipment back into working order.

"The majority of signalling equipment was brought back into use at around 6am this morning.

"A number of buses are in place, which are running between Weymouth and Poole, however these are not running to a timetable at this time.

"Passengers may face a significant wait for replacement transport to arrive.

"We are attempting to source more buses, and will work to arrange a timetabled service so that passengers are able to plan their journeys more effectively."

Last night, commuters at the station, said problems were frequent. Barry Salter said: "It’s absolutely ridiculous. It’s chaos here. I work in Bournemouth and live in Poole and use the trains every day.

“There’s always problems – I’m sick of it.”

Richard Upshaw, who was travelling from London to Dorchester, had to arrange for his partner to pick him up from Bournemouth.

He said: "I was on the train that was the first to stop after it set off from London at 1:05pm.

"We waited on the track for an hour, then reversed back to Branksome and waited there. Then we were taken to Bournemouth and had to get off and wait for a lift or taxi.

"I usually get a problem when I use the train. I should have been home by about 3.50pm, will get home at about 7.15pm now so it's not ideal."

And Peter Smith, who was travelling with friends from Southampton to Wareham, said he would be asking for a refund after the disruption.

"We need to get home this evening and haven’t got anyone who can pick us up. There are no buses for us to travel further, so we're hoping to find a taxi driver. We weren’t expecting this problem this evening."

He added: "There’s no point getting irate about it as it doesn’t help."

South West Trains said earlier it was "unable to procure replacement buses to run between Bournemouth and Weymouth at present."

However, at 5.45pm they said replacement buses enroute to run between Bournemouth and Weymouth but it would be a "very limited bus service".

There were also long delays between Weymouth and London Waterloo. Power was restored to the signals at about 6.30pm but there were long delays throughout the evening.