South Coast services operated by South West Trains did not proceed North of Basingstoke in many cases, with Southern services being delayed by 45 minutes or more. Some trains were stuck at a standstill for over 2 hours each side of the station. South West Trains totally gave up listing the departures on their boards and instead announcements were used for the few services that operated.
The fire started on line 11 which ultimately 'knocked out' lines 4 to 12. The believed cause is a weld on the cable.