Network Rail has announced that the railway in the Guildford area will soon have its biggest upgrade investment in nearly 40 years, and key workers are being urged to check before travelling.
Work to upgrade track and signalling starts on Good Friday, with services from the station to London Waterloo via Cobham and Stoke D'Abernon resuming from Tuesday 14th April.
However, other services will not resume until 20th April 2020 due to the current revised timetable.
Bus replacement services will be in place during the works.
The upgrade will provide more reliable train journeys for passengers between London Waterloo and Guildford, Woking and Portsmouth, and Guildford and Aldershot.
The work will also remove two speed restrictions that are currently in place.
The main work will take place between Friday 10th April and Sunday 19th April and will affect trains as follows:
- SWR services between Woking/Guildford and Haslemere and between Guildford and Aldershot will be replaced by buses.
- SWR will run a limited service between London Waterloo and Guildford, via Cobham & Stoke D' Abernon, from Tuesday 14th April.
- GWR services between Reading and Gatwick Airport will terminate at Ash. Replacement bus services will run between North Camp and Redhill.
- CrossCountry services between Newcastle and Guildford will terminate at Reading.
- Southern services to Guildford will start and terminate at Epsom.
What did the officials say?
Mark Killick, Network Rail Wessex route director, said:
We apologise to those affected during the essential upgrades. To ensure the ongoing reliability and safe running of the railway, it is vital that we deliver these much-needed works in the Guildford area.
“I would like to urge people who do need to travel by rail, such as those who can't work from home, to plan ahead and check before they travel.”
Alan Penlington, Southwestern Railway Customer Experience Director, said:
“We know that closing the railway will be inconvenient for those making essential journeys, however, we will ensure that people can still complete their journeys via replacement bus services and alternative rail routes.
“Journey planners have been updated and we urge anyone who needs to travel over the Easter period to check in advance, as journeys may take longer than usual.”
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Probably build more extra platforms for suburban commuter trains terminating at Guildford coming from London Waterloo. And a new flyover to be built at Woking for Portsmouth Line (London bound) over the South Western Main Line to prevent the bottleneck.