Passengers travelling through Southampton this Christmas advised to plan ahead as £8 million project to renew railway is delivered: Track maintenance

Tuesday 14 Nov 2017

Passengers travelling through Southampton this Christmas advised to plan ahead as £8 million project to renew railway is delivered

Region & Route:
Southern: Wessex
| Southern
  • Work will take place from 24 December to 1 January, with significant alteration to services
  • Buses will replace trains between Southampton Central and Southampton Airport Parkway; and Southampton Central and Fareham
  • Journeys on the line between London, Bournemouth, Poole and Weymouth affected
  • Passengers advised to plan their journey ahead and travel before Christmas Eve

South Western Railway passengers have been urged to plan ahead this Christmas as the line between Southampton Airport Parkway and Southampton Central will be closed because of vital engineering work. The line between Fareham and Southampton Central station will also be closed. Bus replacement services will be in place.

Network Rail will be carrying out track engineering work in Southampton at Mount Pleasant Road next to the River Itchen with all journeys through the Southampton area affected, including between London and Bournemouth, Poole and Weymouth.

The work is part of an £8 million investment to renew railway infrastructure in Southampton, giving passengers more reliable journeys and reducing track noise for our lineside neighbours. More than 100 engineers and track staff will be working shifts 24 hours a day to replace 6,000m of cabling and 200m of track.

Journeys on Sunday 10 December and Sunday 17 December will also be affected by the work and passengers are advised to check times and travel arrangements in advance.

Chris Loder, head of service strategy for South Western Railway, said:

“The line is closed at Southampton and our timetable for Hampshire and Dorset will change over Christmas and some weekends in December and January.

“We encourage passengers to avoid travelling on Christmas Eve if they can and to be prepared for longer journey times between Christmas and New Year. We’re doing all we can to minimise disruption and make sure we get all our passengers to their destination over the festive period. Please check before travelling, either online or at one of our stations.”

Becky Lumlock, Network Rail’s route managing director, said:

“We’re investing £8 million to give our passengers in and out of Southampton more reliable journeys. The new tracks will also mean less noise for our neighbours.

“This is a busy part of the network with around 164,000 trains passing over these tracks in the last year alone. The kit is worn-out and old and it’s vital we replace it now to avoid significant future disruption to our passengers

“We thank people for their patience in advance and apologise for the disruption this will cause. We know there’s never a good time to do this and that’s why my team will be working 24 hours a day, from Christmas Eve to New Year’s Day to deliver this as quickly as possible.”

Notes to Editors

Notes for editors

The work will involve:

  • Replacing 14 sets of points.
  • Renewing about 200 metres of track.
  • Replacing about 6,000 metres of electricity supply and control cabling.

The benefits will include:

  • Improved reliability of key infrastructure, meaning fewer delays for both passengers and freight.
  • Reduced track noise, meaning less disturbance to local residents.

On Sunday 10 December, the line between Southampton Central and Southampton Airport Parkway will be closed as part of the engineering work.
Buses will replace trains between Southampton Airport Parkway / Fareham and Brockenhurst / Bournemouth / Romsey.
 
Engineering work on Sunday 17 December, and Sunday 24 December through until Monday 1 January will also impact passengers:

  • Route from Southampton Central to Southampton Airport will be closed. The line from Fareham to Southampton Central via Netley will be closed. A bus replacement service will be in operation on these routes.
  • Passengers travelling to Southampton Central from the Bath and Bristol direction should change at Salisbury to connect. Cardiff to Portsmouth trains will be diverted via Eastleigh, calling additionally at Chandler’s Ford.
  • South Western Railway passengers are encouraged to travel before Christmas Eve. Bus replacement services will be in operation in the Southampton area from Sunday 24 December to Monday 1 January inclusive. Lines will reopen and services will resume on Tuesday 2 January.

Media enquiries:

For further information please contact Joseph.Gregory@networkrail.co.uk, 07730 383923 for Network Rail and David.Murdoch@swrailway.com for South Western Railway.

Contact information

Passengers / community members
Network Rail national helpline
03457 11 41 41

Latest travel advice
Please visit National Rail Enquiries

Journalists
Network Rail press office -Joseph Gregory
Joseph.Gregory@networkrail.co.uk

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