Railway line between Havant and Haslemere to be closed for nine days, Network Rail announced

The rail service will be carrying out a huge maintenance and upgrade programme which will see disruptions from October 22 to October 30 as lines between Havant and Haslemere will be closed for the nine days.

This closures will extend to Guildford on the weekend and will see bus replacements be in place for anyone that wishes to travel between these stations during this time period.

Engineers will be installing new signals as part of the Farncombe to Petersfield re-signalling, which will result in more trains running to Portsmouth Harbour.

Petersfield will also see their current set of switches and crossings which allows trains to move from one track to another, will be upgraded to ensure that the line is more reliable.

Babak Erfani, Network Rail’s senior signalling sponsor for Wessex, said: ‘This is the third closure on the line between Woking and Portsmouth Harbour as part of the Portsmouth Direct Upgrade programme, which is progressing very well.

‘This closure is mainly to install new signalling structures and renew a vital set of switches and crossings, but we’ve made the most of it by carrying out a large programme of maintenance too.’

During the planned upgrade, engineers will take advantage of the line closures and will also continue to work on three level crossings between Liss and Petersfield to make them safer and they will renew drainage at Haslemere to ensure reliability during extreme weather conditions.

They will also repair the waiting shelter at platform two of Rowlands Castle station, and carry out general maintenance at Milford and Liphook.

Christian Neill, customer experience director for South Western Railway, said: ‘As the exciting Portsmouth Direct Upgrade programme continues at pace, we would like to thank customers for their patience and understanding during the upcoming closure.

‘We appreciate that nine days of closure can be frustrating, but this will allow Network Rail engineers to make significant progress on the project.’

The bus replacements will be put in place of the trains, but it may be wise to find another mode of transport during this time.