Behind the scenes of rail closures between Havant and Portsmouth as £120m upgrade to "obsolete" signalling continues
The project is due to be finished in April 2028
A £120 million project is under way to revamp the busy railway line across the Havant and Portsmouth areas - and modernise the way the railway is controlled by replacing “obsolete” systems.
A number of railway lines through Havant have been closed since Saturday to allow for the replacement of ageing signalling and interlocking equipment in the area.
Train signals are a specialised traffic light system used on railways to control the movement of trains, maintain safe distances between them, and prevent collisions, with the upgrades helping to make journeys smoother and safer.
Control of the railway will also move from Havant Area Signalling Centre to the Basingstoke Regional Operational Centre as part of the changes.
George Murrell, route renewals director for Wessex Network Rail, said: “This scheme is an upgrade to the signalling system across the Havant area, which is quite a large geographic area, stemming over 43 kilometres and covering about 11 stations.
“The existing signing system is now obsolete, and so, therefore, it's becoming quite difficult to maintain, and get replacement parts for as well. So we're renewing the signal system to a new modern technology type, which will really help with reliability and resilience within the operation of the trains to provide a more reliable service.
“There's better maintainability, because it's going to be brand new and so easier and safer to maintain. We're actually changing a lot of the signal heads to LED as well so they're far more visible for the drivers when operating the trains. And it will provide a more reliable service to our passengers, which ultimately is our drive to make sure we provide a far better service to our customers.
“This closure is one of our key preparatory closures to deliver this work, so we are installing new piles for our signals. We're installing new location cases and power cases, which provide the wiring, and also the power to the signalling system, and as well as the work within the signalling project, with delivering lots of track work, drainage works, lever crossing works as well, as well as a lot of maintenance works.”
The re-signalling scheme is due to be finished in April 2028 so more closures can be expected, passengers have been warned.
“We have a further three closures next year of similar duration,” said Mr Murrell.
“What we're really trying to do is be specific on when we close the railway line, because we know the disruption this causes, and we do really apologise. If we didn't do longer closures, we'd be closing the railway line pretty much every weekend, for multiple weekends, which we know would be really, really disruptive for our travelling public.”
The closure of the line has also allowed for work to begin on a separate project to upgrade the Havant footbridge with a crane in place to remove the existing structure so a new one can be put into its place.
How will this affect my journey?
Until Friday, October 30, SWR services between London Waterloo and Portsmouth Harbour will terminate at Petersfield. GTR and Southern services will terminate at Chichester. Replacement buses will operate on the following routes:
- Petersfield – Portsmouth Harbour
- Chichester – Portsmouth Harbour
- Chichester – Southampton Central
On Saturday 31 October, SWR services between London Waterloo and Portsmouth Harbour will terminate at Haslemere. Replacement buses will operate between Haslemere and Havant.
On Sunday 1 November, SWR services between London Waterloo and Portsmouth Harbour will terminate at Guildford. Replacement buses will operate between Guildford and Havant.
Level crossings in Havant and Bedhampton will also be closed from 5am on October 26 until 9pm on October 30.
For information about changes to your journey, please visit your train operator’s website.