WATCH: Eye-opening footage of 'critical' engineering work being completed at Portsmouth station

Major line closures, which began on Saturday (February 15), are set to continue between Portsmouth, Havant and Fareham until Friday, February 21.

The closure comes as part of the renewal huge project being carried out by a considerable taskforce of over 30 engineers.

The work, taking place across the three locations, will see the replacement of the wheel timbers, as well as the removal of dead and diseased trees, new tracks and Fratton footbridge will also benefit from a refurbishment.

The News had the opportunity to visit Portsmouth and Southsea Train Station to take a look at the work being completed as part of the project.

Shane Renyard, construction manager for Network Rail works delivery, said: “We are renewing the track through the platform - this track is coming to its life expiration so it needs to be renewed for the safety of the passenger trains.

“We are renewing everything, the sleepers, the rails and all of the components that go along with it - this area here does see a lot of trains on it and it’s coming to its life expiry so it needs to be renewed so that trains can keep running.

“The timbers we use are now FFU’s (fibre-reinforced foamed urethane) which is like a plastic so we’ve gone away from using wood which is also now more environmentally friendly and it lasts longer.

“It’s unfortunate that work has to take place and there is a lot that goes into it, it is for a week but hopefully you will all see the benefits.”

The ongoing work has taken approximately 12 months to plan and engineers are working round the clock to complete the renewal project.

As a result of the ongoing works, there are a number of bus replacements operating.

For more information about the works being completed in Portsmouth, click here.