From Saturday 21th to Sunday 29th October inclusive, buses will replace South Western Railway train services between Guildford and Petersfield for upgrade work.
Network Rail engineers will upgrade track, signalling and level crossings to help improve the reliability of this important stretch of railway. On Sunday 29th October, the closure will extend beyond Petersfield, closing the line from Guildford to Havant.
During the nine-day closure, engineers will work around the clock to complete different projects at multiple worksites on the Portsmouth Direct line. Completing this work over nine consecutive days avoids months of disruptive weekend and night closures.
This work is part of Network Rail’s wider Portsmouth Direct Upgrade programme in which the signalling and track on the line from Woking to Portsmouth Harbour is being upgraded to improve reliability, journey times and potential capacity.
The ambitious project will see engineers continue to replace 1970s signalling – the railway’s traffic light system – with new, state of the art digital signalling technology, in preparation for the system going live in 2024, as well as installing new power cables to support the new technology.
Teams of engineers will be taking advantage of the extended line closure to complete other essential works to keep services running safely and reliably.
We’ll be doing all we can to keep people moving and rail replacement buses will be in operation between Guildford and Petersfield, and on to Havant when the work area extends on Sunday 29th October. We’re urging anyone planning a journey through this area to visit www.southwesternrailway.com to check before they travel as journeys will take longer.
