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Friday 8 Sep 2017

Passengers reminded to check their journeys as £800 million Waterloo Upgrade continues

Region & Route:

Southern: Wessex

| Southern

Network Rail and South Western Railway are reminding passengers to check before they travel over seven weekends this autumn as work to boost capacity at the station by 30% continues.

South Western Railway will operate a reduced timetable to and from Waterloo over seven weekends between September and November. This is while Network Rail continues planned work to upgrade the track and signalling between Waterloo and Vauxhall to be able to accommodate longer, modern trains, and continues the installation of new stairwells at Vauxhall to improve passengers’ journeys.

The work is the next stage in the £800 million Waterloo and South West Upgrade that will create space for 45,000 more passengers every morning and every evening by the end of 2018.

Becky Lumlock, route managing director at Network Rail, said:

"This autumn we are continuing to deliver our £800 million Waterloo & South West Upgrade to boost capacity at Waterloo by 30%.

"As planned, we will be continuing our upgrades over seven weekends between September and November, laying new track and cables between Waterloo and Vauxhall and building new stairwells at Vauxhall to make room for more passengers.

"While we continue our upgrade work, some platforms at Waterloo and Vauxhall will need to close so South Western Railway will be operating a reduced service over these weekends. I'd ask passengers to remember to check before they travel and plan ahead for the changes via nationalrail.co.uk."

Andy Mellors, managing director at South Western Railway, said:

"The recent weeks have been a challenging time for passengers and employees alike. We'd like to apologise for the continued disruption to services and thank them for their patience whilst these vital Waterloo upgrade works are completed."

Work will be undertaken over the following weekends:

• 9 & 10 September
• 16 & 17 September
• 23 & 24 September
• 30 September & 1 October
• 8 October
• 14 & 15 October
• 12 November

Timetables are currently being updated and passengers are advised to check their journey in the week before they travel by visiting nationalrail.co.uk or southwesternrailway.com.