SOUTH Western Railway (SWR) is strongly urging customers travelling between London and the south coast and west of England between Monday 13 and Thursday 23 February to check the last train times and travel earlier if possible.
Services travelling through Farnborough and Basingstoke on the main line will end much earlier than normal, and only a very limited rail replacement bus service will operate between these two stations.
The early shut down is to allow Network Rail more time to continue landslip repairs in Hook. These repairs should be complete for Friday 24 February, with SWR able to reinstate its normal timetable.
Customers are advised to travel on the last through services if possible. Journey Planners for Monday 13 to Friday 17 February are up to date, including the following last trains:
FROM London Waterloo:
- London Waterloo to Basingstoke (stopping service): 2042
- London Waterloo to Portsmouth Harbour via Basingstoke: 2108
- London Waterloo to Salisbury: 2120
- London Waterloo to Weymouth: 2135
TO London Waterloo:
- Weymouth to London Waterloo: 1959
- Portsmouth Harbour via Basingstoke to London Waterloo: 1959
- Salisbury to London Waterloo: 2023
- Basingstoke to London Waterloo (stopping service): 2024
A very limited rail replacement bus service will operate between Farnborough and Basingstoke. A direct bus service will run from Farnborough to Basingstoke along with a stopping bus service, calling at Fleet, Winchfield and Hook.
Monday 13 to Friday 17 February
Trains will be able to call at Hook from the direction of London from Monday 13 and journey planners for Monday 13 to Friday 17 are now up to date.
Customers should check their entire journey as engineering work is also taking place on other parts of the SWR network. Customers are advised to check the Plan my Journey page of the SWR website.
Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 February
On the weekend of Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 there will be further service changes. Engineers will work from 0045 through to 0825 on Sunday morning, meaning services on Saturday night will end earlier than normal and services on Sunday morning will start later than usual.
Monday 20 to Thursday 23 February
Journey planners for Monday 20 to Thursday 23 will be updated towards the end of the week commencing Monday 13.
Friday 24 February onwards
When landslip repairs are completed overnight on Thursday 23 February, SWR will reinstate their regular timetable from Friday 24 February.
Christian Neill, SWR’s Service Delivery Director, said:
“We are strongly advising customers to travel on the last through services if possible from Monday 13 to Thursday 23 February, as trains will not run between Farnborough and Basingstoke after 2200.
“We’re sorry for the disruption this will cause as Network Rail engineers complete the restoration of the South West Main Line following the landslip at Hook in January.
“Only a limited rail replacement bus service will operate after 2200 and a small number of other service alterations will be made, so it’s vital that customers check their journeys before travelling, travel earlier if they can, and allow extra time to complete their journeys too.
“Whilst we appreciate this will be disruptive, we are getting closer to restoring our normal timetable, which we intend to do on Friday 24 February. Our customers have been very patient over the last month and we’re very grateful for that.”
Mark Killick, Network Rail’s Wessex Route Director, said:
“We’d like to thank customers and residents living alongside the railway for their patience while we’ve carried out this major repair.
“Fixing the landslip at Hook has been an incredibly tough and complicated job. I’m so sorry our customers will have to endure more disruption before we can reopen all four lines. Unfortunately, there is no perfect solution, but this approach is the least disruptive to our customers overall.
“We’ve taken the difficult decision to carry out the track layout work over multiple nights because I recognise how important it is to provide a direct service to and from London and the south west, particularly as the Portsmouth Direct Line will be closed from the 11 to 19 of February as part of a multi-million-pound upgrade that has been planned for more than two years.”
