NETWORK Rail is considering building a temporary track through the former Feltham Marshalling Yards in a bid to run a service between Feltham and Twickenham.
All trains on the London Waterloo line were cancelled this week after a bridge over the River Crane, on the southern edge of Hounslow Heath, was damaged when heavy rainfall caused the river to swell.
The service remains suspended but the rail operator is hoping to run trains at some point next week and, with the bridge damaged beyond use, it is looking at the option of diverting the tracks around it.
Buses are replacing trains in both directions between Feltham and Twickenham, but South West Trains warned commuters it would add at least 45 minutes to journeys and many have complained about long queues at both stations. Once a temporary solution has been found, work on the damaged bridge can begin, but it is expected to take several weeks.
A rail engineer who works on London Underground and has seen the damage to the 100-year-old bridge said: "This sort of severe structural damage is not something you can just prop up and hope for the best. That bridge looks very dangerous to me and it could easily be four to six weeks to make it safe."
As the River Crane swelled following storms that lashed Britain, its increased speed and turbulence washed away some of the foundations of the bridge, damaging the main arch and causing sections to collapse into the river.
A spokesman for Network Rail said: "The line which runs through Feltham is a particularly busy part of London's railway network, so it is important to get trains running as quickly as possible.
"We are working on a temporary solution to enable trains to start running again, which we hope to have in place next week. We've been looking at a number of options to get trains running again, including slewing [diverting] the track.
"Work to repair the original structure will then take place and is expected to take a number of weeks to complete." An update on when services will resume is due today (Friday).
