SOUTH Western Railway (SWR) is urging customers to plan ahead this Easter with major engineering work being carried out by Network Rail affecting services to and from London Waterloo.
While the vast majority of the SWR network will be open, rail replacement buses will operate in some areas.
Some train services will be revised or diverted, start and terminate at different stations, or will not run.
Customers are advised to check their entire journey before travelling using a journey planner, as engineering work may also affect other train operators and parts of the wider network.
Full information on engineering work affecting the SWR network can be found on our Planned Improvements page here.
Woking to Winchester and Andover
From Good Friday, 7 April, until Easter Monday, 10 April, the lines from Woking to Winchester and Andover (including Basingstoke) will be closed. Buses will replace trains between these stations.
The line between Basingstoke and Reading will also be closed and buses will replace trains between Reading and Andover.
Other train services between London Waterloo and Weymouth, Portsmouth, Alton, Salisbury and Exeter St Davids will be altered for all four days. Customers should check before travelling and allow extra time to complete their journeys.
Staines area
Lines in the Staines area will be closed on Saturday 8 and Sunday 9 April. Buses will replace trains between Hounslow, Virginia Water and Windsor & Eton Riverside, both via Staines.
Train services towards Reading, Weybridge/Woking via Staines, Windsor & Eton Riverside, and Hounslow via Richmond and Brentford, will all be affected, so customers should check their journeys carefully.
Vauxhall, Queenstown Road (Battersea) and Earlsfield
On Sunday 9 and Monday 10 April, some lines in the Queenstown Road (Battersea) area will be closed. Earlsfield station will be closed on both days and fewer trains will serve Vauxhall.
Customers are asked to use other nearby stations, however buses will also run between Clapham Junction, Earlsfield and Wimbledon.
On Sunday, services between London Waterloo, Chessington South and Hampton Court will run hourly.
On Monday, services between London Waterloo, Chessington South, Shepperton, Hampton Court and Guildford via Cobham will run hourly.
On both days, these amended services will not call at Earlsfield or Vauxhall. Other service alterations will be in effect and customers should check before travelling.
Peter Williams, Customer & Commercial Director at South Western Railway, said:
“Closing the railway when many people are planning leisure trips is of course frustrating, but the Easter bank holidays are typically a quieter time on our network and we need to make sure engineering works impact as few customers as possible.
“Where works are taking place, rail replacement buses will be running to keep people moving and the vast majority of our network will be unaffected. I’d like to thank customers for their patience and understanding whilst these essential works are carried out.”
Mark Killick, Network Rail’s Wessex Route Director, said:
“I’d like to thank customers for their patience while we carry out these important improvement works over the Easter period. I recognise there is never a good time to close the railway, so we are completing these works while customer numbers are lower at Easter which minimises the number of customers who will be affected.
“The majority of the network will be open as usual for people to take a short break or visit loved ones, but some services may be affected so I’d ask our customers to please plan ahead and check journeys in advance.”
