Friday 26 Aug 2022
Passengers reminded to check before they travel this August Bank Holiday as Network Rail investment continues in South West London, Surrey and Hampshire
- Region & Route:
- Southern
- | Southern: Wessex
Network Rail is reminding passengers that while the majority of the railway network is open, there will be some line closures over the bank holiday between Saturday 27 and Monday 29 August.
While services to the coast in the South West will be unaffected, the works will be focussing on lines closer to the capital.
On Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 August, buses will replace trains between:
- Hounslow and Windsor / Virginia Water
- Eastleigh and Fareham
- Guildford and Leatherhead / Surbiton
- Aldershot and Alton
Mark Killick, Network Rail Wessex route director, said: “We’re working hard to improve our railway across the region and while I know it’s frustrating when we work on weekends and bank holidays, it all helps us to run a more reliable railway.
“Investment such as the £375m new signalling we’re installing around Feltham will last for years and reduce delays for our customers.
“I’d encourage people to check before they travel this coming weekend as there may be changes to train times. We can’t guarantee the weather will be good, but our main routes to the coast will be open so people can head out and enjoy a few days off.”
Work includes re-signalling works from Hounslow to Virginia Water; tunnel maintenance between Eastleigh and Fareham; track renewal between Surbiton, Leatherhead and Guildford; and between Aldershot and Alton, we're renewing conductor rails to improve electrical supplies to trains, and carrying out track maintenance to improve track quality and provide smoother journeys.
We advise passengers to check their journey before travelling either through the South Western Railway or national rail enquiries websites.
Christian Neill, Customer Experience Director for South Western Railway, added: “We know that customers will be eager to enjoy the August bank holiday weekend, so we strongly advise customers to check before they travel in case their journeys are affected by planned improvements to our network.
“Journey planners have been updated and we encourage customers impacted to make use of the rail replacement services provided.”
Contact information
Passengers / community members
Network Rail national helpline
03457 11 41 41
Latest travel advice
Please visit National Rail Enquiries
Journalists
Dan Fane
Communications manager
Network Rail
dan.fane@networkrail.co.uk
About Network Rail
We own, operate and develop Britain's railway infrastructure; that's 20,000 miles of track, 30,000 bridges, tunnels and viaducts and the thousands of signals, level crossings and stations. We run 20 of the UK's largest stations while all the others, over 2,500, are run by the country's train operating companies.
Usually, there are almost five million journeys made in the UK and over 600 freight trains run on the network. People depend on Britain's railway for their daily commute, to visit friends and loved ones and to get them home safe every day. Our role is to deliver a safe and reliable railway, so we carefully manage and deliver thousands of projects every year that form part of the multi-billion pound Railway Upgrade Plan, to grow and expand the nation's railway network to respond to the tremendous growth and demand the railway has experienced - a doubling of passenger journeys over the past 20 years.
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