Early warning of 10-day shutdown on rail for Easter

All lines in the Guildford area will be closed or part-closed
REUTERS
Dick Murray13 February 2020

Commuters and families planning Easter holidays were today given an early warning of a 10-day shutdown over a major part of the London network.

All lines in the Guildford area — affecting South Western Railway, Great Western Railway, Southern Railway and CrossCountry services — will be closed or part-closed from Good Friday April 10 until April 19.

Network Rail — which is carrying out a £2 billion upgrade over the next five years across south-west London, Surrey, Hampshire and into Somerset — apologised for the disruption saying there was “never a convenient time” to close the railway.

Easter has been chosen because it is a less busy period.

NR said new track, signals and electrics were being installed “to ensure a more reliable railways”.

Timetable changes mean between April 14 until the following Sunday there will be a “limited” SWR service between Waterloo and Guildford via Cobham and Stoke D’Abernon.

This will also affect GWR services between Reading, Guildford and Gatwick airport; CrossCountry trains between Newcastle and Guildford; while Southern passengers for Guildford will need to change at Epsom for onward SWR journeys.

Mark Killick, NR Wessex route director, urged passengers to plan ahead.

Apologising for the disruption, he added: “Closing the line for 10 days will allow us to carry out much more work compared to a series of more limited weekend closures, which could take months.”

The two-month notice period was welcomed by national rail watchdog Anthony Smith.

Other work over the Easter weekend includes:

  • Fenchurch Street station to close for work in the West Ham/Barking area with services diverted into Liverpool Street station.
  • The main line out of St Pancras to Derby, Nottingham, and Sheffield to close north of Luton with coaches from Luton to Market Harborough.
  • HS2 preparatory work to impact lines out of Euston. A special timetable will be in place with fewer trains than usual. 
  • Lines between Hither Green and Orpington to close for upgrade work in the Chislehurst area with coaches replacing trains.

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