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Friday 15 Nov 2024

Vital engineering work to impact services across Network Rail’s Wessex route this Christmas

Region & Route:

Southern: Wessex

| Southern

• Network Rail will be undertaking a programme of work over Christmas and New Year to improve the railway and provide better, more reliable services for passengers across Britain.
• Key upgrade work between Basingstoke and Woking, Brockenhurst and Lymington Pier, and Trowbridge to Salisbury will result in changes to services.
• Passengers encouraged to check before you travel and plan your journey in advance

Network Rail is encouraging passengers to plan ahead and check before travelling over Christmas and New Year, as tens of thousands of railway engineers will be working round the clock across the country to improve our railway – aiming to make it better, and more reliable.

Across Network Rail’s Wessex route – which serves the towns and communities in part or all of the counties of Surrey, Berkshire, Hampshire, Dorset, Devon, Somerset and Wiltshire – a number of key pieces of engineering work will result in changes to services.

During the Christmas and New Year holiday season fewer people use trains, so Network Rail carry out these works at the same time to avoid causing too much disruption. Here’s a quick look at what we’re doing:

Brookwood junction – Basingstoke and Woking

Changes to train services

• Sunday 15 December – Buses will replace trains between Basingstoke and Aldershot to Woking
• Monday 16 December to Sunday 22 December – Services will be re-timed and there will be no rail replacement bus
• Monday 23 December to Friday 3 January 2025 – Buses replace trains between Farnborough and Aldershot to Woking.
• Saturday 4 January – Buses replace trains between Aldershot and Basingstoke to Woking​
• Sunday 5 January – Buses replace trains between Andover, Winchester and Aldershot to Woking
• Monday 6 January – Normal service resumes

From Sunday 15 December until Sunday 5 January (inclusive), engineers will working to upgrade the railway between Basingstoke and Woking. There will be no direct trains between Exeter/Salisbury and London Waterloo. Services between Waterloo and Southampton/Weymouth are diverted, taking 45 mins longer. Ascot to Guildford via Aldershot services will terminate at Aldershot. Customers for Guildford should change at Aldershot and travel on the revised Alton to Guildford services

Network Rail will be renewing the switches and crossings, which allow trains to change tracks, at Brookwood Junction, where the line to Ash Vale and Aldershot leaves the South West Main Line towards Basingstoke.

Engineers will also be carrying out work to strengthen embankments at Ashmead and Hook, reducing the chance of landslips in the area and keeping passengers moving. Maintenance teams will also be carrying out tamping between Hook and Farnborough.

Teams will also be improving drainage between Brookwood and Farnborough near Basingstoke Canal, involving the installation of new pipes into the embankments and catch-pits, to reduce the risk of flooding.

Brockenhurst to Lymington Pier

Changes to train services

• Between Sunday 22 December and Sunday 5 January – Buses replace trains between Brockenhurst and Lymington Pier. Normal service resumes Monday 6 January.

The line between Brockenhurst and Lymington Pier will be closed in our second phase of work on the line. Buses will replace trains between Brockenhurst and Lymington.

Following the successful re-railing done on the line in late October, we will be strengthening the bridge across the Lymington River between Lymington Town and Pier stations. We will be refurbishing and strengthening the bridge, and making repairs to heavily corroded critical steel elements of Lymington Viaduct, which will be carried out from pontoons and scaffolding. We will also be renewing the wheel timbers across the viaduct.

Upgrading the Sherrington Viaduct between Salisbury and Trowbridge

Changes to train services

• Between 24 December and 24 January – Buses will be replacing trains between Trowbridge and Salisbury.

We are refurbishing the Sherrington Viaduct that runs over the River Wylye. We’ll be strengthening the viaduct, as well as carrying out some masonry work to the abutments and piers. To strengthen the viaduct, we will be adding steel plates to the existing girders, giving them greater support. Once this is complete, we will be repainting the viaduct.

We will also be carrying out work to insulated block joints, which are mechanical joints which join two rails whilst keeping them electrically separate from each other, between Salisbury and Sherrington, as well as removing some dead or diseased trees in the same area.

This work has been timed to coincide with the Wales and Western region’s major upgrade work at Westbury station with the Southern region taking advantage of the closure to carry out additional improvement works.

Mark Goodall, Network Rail’s Wessex route director, said: “Passengers are advised to plan ahead this Christmas as we carry out these essential improvement works. Our teams will be working round the clock over the festive period to upgrade the railway for our passengers so they can benefit from smoother and more reliable journeys. For our Brookwood closure, trains will be re-routed from Southampton so passengers from the south coast can still enjoy direct services to and from London. We do a significant amount of works over the Christmas period as we can keep disruption to a minimum, but we are sorry to passengers who are affected by these works and thank them for their patience.”

Peter Williams, Customer and Commercial Director for South Western Railway, said: “Our colleagues at Network Rail are carrying out a number of improvements on our network over the Christmas period, so it’s vital that customers plan their journeys in advance.

“Major engineering work in the Brookwood area, near Woking, will affect travel between London Waterloo and destinations such as Exeter, Salisbury, Southampton and Weymouth. Work will also continue between Brockenhurst and Lymington Pier, following the closure in late October and early November.

“With some services on our network amended, diverted and replaced by buses, we recommend checking journey planners now. We’re sorry for the disruption this will cause and are grateful to our customers for their patience.”

Jordan Welsby, GWR Station Manager for Westbury, Wiltshire & Dorset, said: “This work forms part of an ongoing programme of maintenance, helping to ensure we can continue to provide consistent and reliable services. Rail replacement services will be provided for those stations that will not be served by GWR trains and, as an alternative, rail tickets can also be used to travel on local buses in the area. It’s important that customers are aware these alternative travel arrangements will make journey times much longer, so check before you travel.”