NetWork Rail Update - Travelling this Christmas

If you are thinking of travelling by train this Christmas take note of the latest from Network Rail!

Network Rail will be undertaking essential engineering work in the Woking area on the South West Main Line over the Christmas and New Year period.

Rail replacement buses will be running on the following days:

• Monday 23 to Tuesday 24 December 2024 from Farnborough to Woking
• Wednesday 25 to Thursday 26 December 2024 no train or bus services on the SWR Network
• Friday 27 December 2024 to Friday 3 January 2025 from Farnborough to Woking
• Sunday 5 January from:
  • Aldershot to Weybridge
  • Basingstoke to Weybridge
  • Andover to Woking
  • Winchester to Woking
  • Weybridge to Guildford

Journeys between London Waterloo and Southampton Central, Poole and Weymouth will be diverted via Guildford, taking approximately 45 minutes longer. There will be no direct services between London Waterloo, Salisbury and Exeter St Davids.

Services between London Waterloo and Alton, Guildford and Farnham, and London Waterloo to Portsmouth Harbour via Basingstoke will also be affected.

Network Rail engineers will be renewing the switches and crossings - the equipment which allows trains to change tracks - at Pirbright Junction, where the line to Aldershot leaves the South West Main Line towards Basingstoke.

They will be carrying out work to strengthen embankments in the area, reducing the chance of landslips in the area and keeping passengers moving. Maintenance teams will be carrying out tamping - the compacting of the stones that support the tracks - between Hook and Farnborough.

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