Portsmouth Direct: Guildford to Petersfield rail closure as £95m revamp begins

Old signal boxes along the route will be replaced by the new signalling centre in Basingstoke

A £95m rail project to remove worn-out signalling on the line linking Portsmouth with Guildford and London is set to start.

Work starting on Saturday will see a nine-day closure between Guildford and Petersfield.

The Network Rail programme is expected to be completed by late 2024.

As part of the work, a signal box in Haslemere that has been controlling trains since 1895 will be replaced by a new signalling centre in Basingstoke.

The project will provide signalling, track and level crossing works between Farncombe and Petersfield, on the Portsmouth Direct line, which was first built more than 150 years ago.

The signal box at Haslemere is a rare spot along train lines nowadays

Analysis

By Paul Clifton, BBC South transport correspondent

A nine-day closure is more than an inconvenience for passengers.

Especially as it comes as the return to working in offices is picking up pace.

But Network Rail could not have predicted that when it started planning this three-year project.

A glance inside the old signal box on the platform at Haslemere shows why it has to be done. The big levers to change the signals and move the points are from another era.

They are completely out of keeping with a modern, increasingly automated and very safe railway. There are few signal boxes like this on any mainline, let alone one as busy as the route to Portsmouth.

But this can't be done without disruption. Another blockade is scheduled for October and there will be more between now and the completion date of October 2024.

The signal box at Haslemere will not be used after the work is complete

During the nine-day closure until 20 February, engineers will start work on the new signalling system and carry out maintenance on tracks, bridges, level crossings and drainage systems.

Buses will replace South Western Railway (SWR) services from Guildford to Petersfield and a rail shuttle service will operate from Petersfield to Portsmouth Harbour, between Saturday and 20 February.

On Sunday, buses will replace SWR services between Guildford and Havant, and a rail shuttle will run between Havant and Portsmouth Harbour.

Buses will replace Great Western Railway (GWR) services between Guildford and Shalford on 20 February.