Thursday 7 Dec 2017
Passengers travelling through Southampton this month reminded to check before travelling ahead of £8 million upgrade work
- Region & Route:
- Southern: Wessex
- | Southern
- Service alterations in Southampton area this Sunday (December 10) and next Sunday (December 17)
- Upgrade work will then take place from 24 December to 1 January, with service alterations throughout
- Network Rail and South Western Railway advise passengers to plan their journey ahead and travel before Christmas Eve on Sunday 24th December if possible
South Western Railway passengers have been reminded to plan their journeys in advance from this Sunday (December 10) as Network Rail prepares to deliver an £8 million investment into the railway in the Southampton area.
Services through Southampton will be disrupted both this Sunday and next Sunday (December 17) as preparatory work takes place to allow for the safe and efficient delivery of the project.
From December 24 until January 1, 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. Passengers can plan journeys in advance at www.southwesternrailway.com
The work will mean more reliable journeys for passengers in and out of Southampton, and quieter tracks for lineside neighbours near Northam Junction. It forms part of Network Rail’s biggest-ever Christmas investment in Britain’s rail infrastructure, with more than £160 million being spent nationwide.
Chris Loder, head of service strategy for South Western Railway, said:
“We encourage passengers to check our website before they travel ahead of Network Rail’s preparatory works this Sunday 10 December and on Sunday 17 December. Buses will replace trains on many services in the Southampton area.
“We also 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."
Jason Bridges, chief operating officer for Network Rail’s Wessex route, said:
“This vital work will improve the railway through Southampton. We appreciate there is never a good time to carry out work which disrupts passengers and we have worked closely with our colleagues at South Western Railway to keep disruption to a minimum and make information for passengers as clear as possible.
“Southampton is a critical part of our network, and by keeping the infrastructure safe and reliable we are meeting the needs of the communities our railway serves, both now and in the future.”
ENDS
Notes to Editors
Notes to 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.
Upcoming service alterations:
Sunday 10 December
All lines in the Southampton area will be closed all day Sunday for maintenance work.
- Trains between London Waterloo and Weymouth will be replaced by buses between Southampton Airport Parkway and Brockenhurst.
- Stopping services to Poole will only run between Brockenhurst and Poole.
- Replacement buses will run between Eastleigh and Brockenhurst, connecting with the London Waterloo to Portsmouth via Eastleigh services.
- Fast buses will also run between Eastleigh, Southampton and Bournemouth. Long distance passengers for Bournemouth and stations to Weymouth should use these buses where possible.
- There will be no South Western Railway train services between Southampton Central and Portsmouth.
- Replacement buses will run between Southampton Central and Fareham, connecting with other train services between Fareham and Portsmouth.
- South Western Railway services to and from Salisbury will be replaced by buses between Romsey and Eastleigh via Southampton Central.
- Great Western Railway services will call at Eastleigh instead of Southampton Central. These trains will also serve Chandler’s Ford.
Sunday 17 December
The lines between Southampton and Eastleigh/Fareham will be closed all day Sunday for work on the Southampton Area Upgrade scheme.
- Trains between London Waterloo and Weymouth will make an extra stop at Eastleigh for bus connections, then run to Southampton Airport Parkway for local passengers only.
- Buses will run between Eastleigh and Southampton Central, also connecting with trains between London Waterloo and Portsmouth via Eastleigh.
- Trains will run between Southampton Central and Weymouth, also between Southampton Central and Poole.
- Trains will run between Salisbury and Southampton Central, connecting with buses to and from Eastleigh.
- Great Western Railway services to and from Portsmouth will call at Eastleigh instead of Southampton Central. These trains will also serve Chandler’s Ford.
- CrossCountry services will be diverted between Southampton Central and Basingstoke with longer journey times.
- Southern services will be altered to run to and from Portsmouth. Buses will run between Havant and Southampton Central.
- Bus services will run between Fareham and Southampton Central. Please use other train services to Fareham to connect with these buses.
December 24 until January 1
The lines between Southampton Central and Southampton Airport Parkway, also between Southampton Central and Fareham will be closed until 1 January 2018 for the Southampton Area upgrade project
The following service alterations will apply today.
- Trains between London Waterloo and Weymouth will be replaced by buses between Southampton Airport Parkway and Southampton Central.
- Buses will run between Eastleigh and Southampton Central, connecting with trains between London Waterloo and Portsmouth via Eastleigh.
- Trains will run between Southampton Central and Weymouth.
- Stopping trains will run between Southampton Central and Poole. Millbrook and Redbridge will be served by these trains instead of the Salisbury trains.
- Trains will run between Salisbury and Southampton Central, connecting with buses to and from Eastleigh.
- Great Western Railway services to and from Portsmouth will call at Eastleigh instead of Southampton Central. These trains will also serve Chandler’s Ford.
- CrossCountry services will be diverted between Southampton Central and Basingstoke with longer journey times.
- Southern services will be altered to run to and from Portsmouth. Buses will run between Havant and Southampton Central.
- Bus services will run between Fareham and Southampton Central. Please use other train services through Fareham to connect with these buses.
Island Line services will start to shut down from about 2000 and will finish by about 2100. Further details will be published nearer the time.
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 - Wessex Route
07710 959476
mediarelations@networkrail.co.uk
About Network Rail
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