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A £3.5bn plan to operate, maintain and renew the South East’s congested rail network over the next five years has been published today by infrastructure owner and operator, Network Rail.

Britain’s busiest footpath railway crossing, with more than 760 trains each day, has been closed and replaced by a footbridge.*

• Life-expired Burnaby Road railway bridge in Portsmouth to be replaced between Monday 12 February and Friday 16 February 2018.
• Rail replacement buses in operation between Portsmouth Harbour and Portsmouth and Southsea, with diversion routes for motorists and pedestrians
• More than 50 Network Rail engineers and track staff will work around the clock to install
• New crossing, made from British steel, to replace the old bridge over the half-term break

Motorists and train passengers in south west London are being advised to allow more time for their journeys and to check before travelling as Network Rail continues work on a major railway signalling upgrade in Sutton and Mitcham.

Vital work has started to stabilise a railway embankment in Streatham, south London, to reduce the risk of a future landslip after high-tech monitoring equipment confirmed it is subsiding.

London Charing Cross and Waterloo East stations have now reopened following repairs to a faulty gas main in a nearby road which required a cordon to be put in place by emergency services.

Network Rail and the British Transport Police have issued a warning to motorists after a reckless driver who crashed through a level-crossing barrier was handed an 18-month driving ban, ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work and pay £1000 in compensation.

London Charing Cross and Waterloo East stations will remain closed as a precaution until further notice following a gas leak in a nearby road.