OREANDA-NEWS. This upgrade work is the railway’s equivalent of resurfacing a busy road; running a safe, reliable railway depends on the track being in good condition – not just the metal rails, but the foundations on which they sit too.

The bed of stones the rails and sleepers rest on, known as ballast, support this network, holding the other components securely in place and allowing effective drainage, enabling a safe, smooth and comfortable ride, reducing the need for speed restrictions and travel disruption.

Britain’s railway sees an incredible 1.6 billion journeys each year. This traffic and wear and tear takes its toll and it is the high output track renewals team’s responsibility to regularly clean the ballast of debris, oil and emissions as well as regularly renewing it so it is safe and continues to do its job.  In March 2015 Network Rail expanded its world-leading track renewal programme by purchasing a new ?50m ballast cleaner.  Built for ‘third-rail’ operation, it allows the high voltage conductor rail used on much of the Wessex route, to safely remain in place throughout the cleaning process, a UK first.

John Halsall, Network Rail route managing director for Wessex, said: “Running a safe, reliable railway depends on the track being in good condition – not just the metal rails, but the foundations on which they sit too.  Network Rail has invested in world leading technology which allows us to carry out this essential maintenance at night rather than having to close the railway at weekends. This is much more efficient, better for passengers and better for the local economy.”

Tim Shoveller, managing director of South West Trains, added: “This work is absolutely vital to continuing to provide a safe and reliable railway and it is fantastic news that this equipment allows us to carry out this work overnight, which is more efficient and has far less impact on our passengers compared to weekend closures.

“However, there will be some changes to our night time services between London Waterloo and Portsmouth, with services finishing around 8pm between Monday and Thursday. Any passengers travelling on this line in the evening must check before travelling.”

The work will take place on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings, which means the normal train service will finish much earlier than usual. The normal train service will run until the 20:00 London Waterloo to Portsmouth & Southsea in one direction and the 20:15 Portsmouth Harbour to London Waterloo in the other.

After that:

  • A revised train service will run between London Waterloo and Haslemere.
  • Replacement bus services will run between Haslemere and Petersfield.
  • A shuttle train service will run between Petersfield and Portsmouth.
  • Some trains will be diverted between Woking and Portsmouth, running via Fareham and Cosham.
  • Where possible, long distance passengers should use these through trains to avoid the buses.

The trains will be affected over the following weeks:

  • Monday 28 September to Thursday 1 October
  • Monday 5 to Thursday 8 October
  • Monday 12 to Thursday 15 October
  • Monday 2 to Thursday 5 November
  • Monday 9 to Thursday 12 November
  • Monday 16 to Thursday 19 November
  • Monday 23 to Thursday 26 November
  • Monday 30 November to Thursday 3 December
  • Monday 7 to Thursday 10 December

Please note work is not taking place on the weeks commencing Monday 19 or 26 October. The normal train service will operate on these weeks.