Network Rail complete railway improvements on key commuter line between London Waterloo and Portsmouth

The railway reopened as planned this morning following a nine-day closure of the line during which Network Rail’s team of engineers completed vital reliability upgrades to parts of the busy line.

Engineers worked around the clock to update the 1970s signalling equipment between Farncombe and Petersfield, install signal piles (foundations for the signals), new signal posts, new signal gantries either end of Haslemere station, lay power cables at Princess Bridge, construct a signalling equipment building at Milford, as well as carry out upgrades at several level crossings between Farncombe East and Liss.

To utilise the time that the line was closed, engineers also took the opportunity to complete other vital work to support the continued safe and smooth running of the railway including stabilising the cuttings at Haslemere and Wormley to reduce the risk of vegetation debris falling onto the track, track maintenance work in Haslemere, refreshing the station canopies at Farncombe station, brickwork repairs at Guildford tunnel and cutting back overgrown trees and hedges along the line.

The work is part of the wider Portsmouth Direct Upgrade programme which, once complete in October 2024, will see signalling (the railway’s traffic lights), track and level crossings on the line from Woking to Portsmouth Harbour upgraded.

This will help improve reliability, make level crossings safer, reduce journey times, and open up the potential for more train services in the future.

Mark Killick, Network Rail’s Wessex route director, said: “I’d like to thank customers and local residents for their continued patience and understanding while we carried out further works on this key stretch of railway.

“The work is crucial to improving the reliability of the railway for customers travelling between Portsmouth and London Waterloo and will help reduce journey times as well as provide the opportunity to increase the number of services in the future.”

Peter Williams, South Western Railway's customer and commercial director, commented: “I’m pleased to see Network Rail continue to make progress on these major track and signalling improvements.

"Making the decision to close parts of the network is really difficult because we know how disruptive it can be to customers’ journeys.

"I thank customers for their patience as these essential upgrades have been carried out, which when completed will boost the performance of the line for many years to come.”