Fratton Railway Station footbridge set to be closed for three months for refurbishment works

The bridge is set to be closed from Sunday, February 2 to Monday April 28 to allow for the works which South Western Railway describe as ‘substantial’.

It said the works will ‘bring it up to modern loading standards, with scaffolding erected to allow engineers to work on the exterior elevations of the structure including painting the underside of the bridge’.

The closure means that rail passengers heading south after their journeys will need to leave via the Selbourne Terrace exit and walk around and over the bridge at the top of Fratton Road to then access Goldsmith Avenue.

The closure comes ahead of a seven-day line closure in the city from February 15 to 21 with Network Rail engineers working around the clock to upgrade the railway in the Portsmouth area across a number of different worksites.

On top of this there will also be maintenance works on both February 2 and 9 affecting services across the SWR network with services between Portsmouth and London Waterloo, as well as Portsmouth and Poole taking longer than usual. Bus replacement services will also be in place for passengers travelling to and from Havant, Southampton and Fareham for some of the works.

The works includes

• At Portcreek Junction, engineers will lay 390m of new track and 450m of conductor rail (the part of the track that provides power to the trains), and replace two sets of points -moveable sections of track that allow trains to move from one line to another.
• At Bedhampton, new track will be laid and ballast installed at the level crossing, which will also be given a fresh lick of paint.
• Between Quay Viaduct, Fareham and Portchester sub-station, a number of dead, diseased and dangerous trees will be removed to reduce leaf fall onto the railway and help keep trains running safely and on time.

The changes to services on these dates are:

Sunday, February 2

• London Waterloo to Poole and Portsmouth Harbour services will run to Poole only. These services will be diverted, taking approximately 30 minutes longer, and will call additionally at Farnborough.
• A revised service will run between Eastleigh and Portsmouth Harbour.
• London Waterloo to Portsmouth via Guildford services will be revised and diverted, taking approximately 30 minutes longer. Some services will start from Woking.

Sunday, February 9

• London Waterloo to Portsmouth Harbour via Eastleigh services will be diverted, taking approximately 30 minutes longer, and will be replaced by buses between Fareham and Portsmouth.
• London Waterloo to Portsmouth Harbour via Guildford services will be diverted, taking approximately 30 minutes longer, and will be replaced by buses between Havant and Portsmouth.
• Services between Southampton Central and Portsmouth & Southsea will be replaced by buses between Fareham and Portsmouth

Saturday, February 15:

• London Waterloo-Portsmouth via Eastleigh services start and finish at Fareham
• London Waterloo-Portsmouth Harbour via Guildford services will be revised, starting and finishing at Havant
• London Waterloo-Portsmouth & Southsea via Guildford services will start and finish at Haslemere
• Southampton Central-Portsmouth services start and finish at Fareham
• Buses will run between Fareham, Havant and Portsmouth Harbour

February 16 to 18:

• London Waterloo-Portsmouth via Eastleigh services start and finish at Fareham
• London Waterloo-Portsmouth Harbour via Guildford services will be revised, starting and finishing at Havant
• Southampton Central-Portsmouth services start and finish at Fareham
• Buses will run between Fareham, Havant and Portsmouth Harbour

February 19 to Friday 21:

• London Waterloo to Portsmouth Harbour via Eastleigh services will start and finish at Portsmouth & Southsea.
• Buses will run between Portsmouth & Southsea and Portsmouth Harbour
• London Waterloo to Portsmouth via Guildford services will be revised. Some services will start and finish at Haslemere, others will start and finish at Portsmouth & Southsea.
• Buses will run between Portsmouth & Southsea and Portsmouth Harbour