With just under two weeks to go until May Half-term, Network Rail is advising passengers of more disruption on the Portsmouth Direct Line between Monday, 25th May and Friday, 29th May as track and signalling upgrades continue.

The rail networks that will be affected include South Western Railway (SWR), Southern Railway (SR) and Great Western Railway (GWR).

The resignalling programme at Havant will continue following its previous phase, which was completed over the February Half-term at Easter Holiday weekend earlier this year. The signalling project is part of the resignalling of the Portsmouth Direct Line through Hampshire. The Farncombe to Petersfield section was completed last year.

The £120m Havant Resignalling Project is due to be completed by 2028, by which time the ageing and unreliable signalling system that’s still largely in place (which has caused 310 hours of delays to rail services in recent months) will be completely replaced with all signalling operations for the area moving to the Basingstoke Rail Operating Centre.

The upgrades will not only make the route more reliable and less prone to signal failures, it will also improve communication between Network Rail and TOCs, helping all organisations respond to incidents quickly.

Over this upcoming five-day closure, this phase of the programme will include clearing lineside vegetation, setting out materials and undertaking preparatory work.

While services south of Havant to Portsmouth Harbour will cease entirely for the mid-week duration of Half-term, Network Rail will also carry out other projects on the line to Portsmouth Harbour.

Portcreek Viaduct will receive 18 new fibre-reinforced foamed urethane timbers to replace existing life-expired timbers on the structure. These will be wheel timbers, so called as they are long and support and carry the track over the viaduct.

Fratton station will see its footbridge refurbished, while track replacement work around the station will also be undertaken.

The glass on the high-level station at Portsmouth & Southsea will also receive a clean.

Changes to Services

A frequent bus service will operate every 12 minutes between Havant and Portsmouth Harbour, serving all stations. A half-hourly bus service will run from Fareham to Portsmouth & Southsea, serving all stations.

SWR services to Portsmouth Harbour will start and terminate at Havant.

Southern Services to Portsmouth Harbour will start and terminate at Havant. Those that usually terminate at Portsmouth & Southsea will be diverted to Bognor Regis. Brighton to Southampton services will be unaffected.

GWR services to Portsmouth Harbour will start and terminate at Fareham.

As work on the Havant Resignalling Programme continues, more closures are expected for the October Half-term, Christmas Holiday season and February Half-term in 2027.

“This May, we are continuing to modernise signalling on the Portsmouth Direct Line, replacing ageing equipment in the Havant area that is increasingly prone to failure and can cause delays for passengers.

“We’re also renewing key components on Portcreek viaduct, where ageing wheel timbers need to be replaced to prevent further unplanned closures.

“We know this work means changes to journeys and we’re sorry for the inconvenience. Network Rail and South Western Railway have worked closely to plan the works and replacement services, helping passengers continue to complete their journeys while we deliver these upgrades.”

Tom McNamee, Infrastructure Director, speaking on behalf of Network Rail and South Western Railway