South Western Railway (SWR) train services between Staines and Windsor & Eton Riverside in Berkshire will be severely disrupted for one week at the end of March when the line is closed for essential engineering work.

From Saturday, 22nd until Friday, 28th March, there will be no train services between Staines and Windsor & Eton Riverside as the railway line will be closed to allow Network Rail to carry out vital track improvements.

Train services in the surrounding area will also run to revised timetables on the weekend of Saturday, 22nd and Sunday, 23rd March.

Network Rail engineers will install over 700 metres of new track on the 174-year-old Black Potts railway bridge that crosses the River Thames a mile east of Windsor Castle.

Engineers will carry out work at May’s level crossing in Datchet to widen the pedestrian footpath on one side of the crossing.

During the closure, engineers will also carry out work around Staines-upon-Thames, including:

• Improving the track and maintaining the line between Staines and Egham and from Staines to Ascot and Woking.
• Carrying out structural repairs to the bridge over the River Wey near Addlestone.
• Installing new sleepers in the Feltham area.

While the line between Staines and Windsor & Eton Riverside is closed, rail-replacement bus services will replace some South Western Railway as follows:

• Saturday, 22nd March Staines to Windsor & Eton Riverside, Hounslow to Virginia Water.
• Sunday, 23rd March Staines to Windsor & Eton Riverside, Hounslow to Ascot and Woking.
• Monday, 24th to Friday, 28th March Staines to Windsor & Eton Riverside.

In January last year, the line between Staines and Windsor was closed for three days for further track renewals when Network Rail engineers replaced around 1,100 metres of track, and customers again had to use rail-replacement bus services.

The closure of the line to Windsor & Eton Riverside will not affect Great Western Railway services to Windsor & Eton Central, which will continue running as normal.

We know that closing this large stretch of railway to the south west of London will be disruptive and we would like to apologise to passengers for the inconvenience this work will cause. We started work on this project in 2023 to renew the railway in the Windsor area and this work will allow passengers to enjoy smoother and more reliable journeys for years to come.

Mark Goodall, Network Rail’s Wessex Route Director