Essential work to repair a landslip at Brookwood in Surrey is continuing and will see extremely reduced services operating between Woking and Basingstoke from Wednesday the 27th to Friday the 29th of December.
South Western Railway customers are advised to only travel if absolutely necessary during the working period. Those who must travel during the work are advised to check their travel plans ahead of making a journey with online planners set to carry up-to-date information by Saturday, the 23rd of December.
To repair the landslip, Network Rail will require two of the four tracks between Woking and Brookwood which means that services between Woking and Basingstoke will be impacted.
Over the three-day working period, some first service leaving from London Waterloo and travelling through Woking and Basingstoke will see later starts of approximately 7am each day.
Services which operate to and from London Waterloo station from Wednesday the 27th to Friday the 29th of December will run as follows:
Wednesday 27 December:
London Waterloo to Alton:
- There will be no direct service between London and Alton and will see services operating between Farnham and Guilford extended to Alton.
- Customers travelling between London and Alton will need to change at Guildford.
Brookwood:
- This station will not be served by trains travelling from London.
- Customers will need to travel to Woking and change in order to use a rail replacement bus service which calls at Brookwood, Farnborough (Main), Ash Vale and Aldershot.
London Waterloo to Exeter St Davids:
- Services will run once per hour in each direction and depart London Waterloo earlier than usual
London Waterloo to Southampton Airport Parkway:
- Services will run once per hour in each direction and depart London Waterloo earlier than usual
London Waterloo-Portsmouth Harbour via Basingstoke:
- Services to London Waterloo will terminate at Farnborough.
- Services from London Waterloo will start at Basingstoke.
London Waterloo to Basingstoke (stopping services):
- Services will run once per hour in each direction and depart London Waterloo earlier than usual
Thursday the 28th and Friday the 29th of December:
London Waterloo to Alton:
- There will be no direct service between London and Alton and will see services operating between Farnham and Guilford extended to Alton.
- Customers travelling between London and Alton will need to change at Guildford.
Brookwood:
- Trains travelling from London will not serve this station.
- Customers will need to travel to Woking and change in order to use a rail replacement bus service which calls at Brookwood, Farnborough (Main), Ash Vale and Aldershot.
London Waterloo to Exeter St Davids:
- Services will run once per hour in each direction and depart London Waterloo earlier than usual
London Waterloo to Salisbury:
- Services will run between Basingstoke and Salisbury only.
- Customers for London should change at Basingstoke.
London Waterloo to Southampton Airport Parkway:
- Services will run once per hour in each direction and depart London Waterloo earlier than usual
London Waterloo-Portsmouth Harbour via Basingstoke:
- Services to London Waterloo will terminate at Farnborough.
- Services from London Waterloo will start at Basingstoke.
London Waterloo to Basingstoke (stopping services):
- Services will run once per hour in each direction and depart London Waterloo earlier than usual
The Southampton area is also set to see engineering work take place over the Christmas period and will impact services to:
- Brockenhurst
- Poole
- Weymouth and Salisbury
- Romsey via Eastleigh.
Customers who are planning to travel in these areas are also advised to check their travel plans ahead of making a journey.
The remainder of the South Western Railway network will operate using a Saturday timetable during this time.
Stuart Meek, South Western Railway's Chief Operating Officer, said:
“This is a complex repair that our colleagues at Network Rail have been working hard to complete. To make more progress, they will once again require access to two of the four tracks in the area which, while disruptive, is the best option available.”
“As we will only have half the number of tracks available, we will need to reduce our services as we did some weeks ago. Our advice to customers is that, if their trains run between Woking and Basingstoke, they should only travel if absolutely necessary.”
“Services to Basingstoke, Southampton, Portsmouth via Basingstoke, Salisbury and Exeter St David's will all be affected. Please check very carefully if you do have to travel. We're very sorry for the continued disruption and appreciate our customers' patience.”
