Full Railway Closure, Guildford – Havant from this Saturday 25 Oct

Email from Southwestern Railway and Network Rail

Dear Stakeholder,

Beginning Saturday 25 October to Sunday 2 November 2025: Railway engineering work –Guildford to Havant 

On behalf of South Western Railway and Network Rail, we are writing to remind you that this October will mark the completion of a major signalling upgrade on the Portsmouth Direct Line.

Since early 2022 engineers have been delivering a programme of improvement works on this section of the network, designed to provide safer and more reliable services running from Portsmouth Harbour into London Waterloo.

The focus of this work has been replacing the 1970s signalling with a modern, digital system between Farncombe and Petersfield. Signals act as the traffic lights of the railway, and control of the line will be moved from three signal boxes (Farncombe, Haslemere and Petersfield) to the Basingstoke Rail Operating Centre, which will enable faster and more efficient train management.

The project will be completed during the upcoming railway closure between Guildford and Havant, from Saturday 25 October to Sunday 2 November 2025.

During the line closure, buses will be replacing South Western Railway services between Guildford and Havant. This will include a fast service running between Haslemere and Petersfield and a separate stopping service. More information can be found here.

We will continue to update stakeholders in the lead up to work beginning with more details about the project. We will also be writing to our lineside neighbours along the line in due course letting them know of any upcoming improvement works near their properties.

The Project in numbers:

• £129 million investment on the line.
• 5 major engineering blockades, the first taking place in October 2022.
• 90 new signals installed along with a new, more reliable train detection system.
• 9 level crossings upgraded, 2 to manually controlled barriers with CCTV, 7 to manually controlled barriers with obstacle detection systems.
• Over 30km of signalling cables installed, all connected to the signalling floor of the Basingstoke Rail Operating Centre.
• 17 new Relocatable Equipment Boxes, which house the signalling control equipment.
• 3 signal boxes decommissioned (Farncombe, Haslemere and Petersfield).

Level Crossing Upgrades and Barrier Downtime

We are upgrading the equipment at all nine level crossings along the line. This work includes converting Automatic Half Barriers (AHB) into Manual Controlled Barriers with Obstacle Detection (MCB-OD), upgrading certain Manual Controlled Barriers with CCTV (MCB-CCTV) to include Obstacle Detection, and enhancing others by adding CCTV. These improvements will introduce the latest technology to increase safety, performance, and reliability across the railway. Once the programme is complete, all crossings will be remotely monitored by the signaller in Basingstoke.

As a result of the upgrades, there will be an increase in the average barrier downtime at the level crossings. The crossings that will see a barrier down time increase (Milford, Liss Common, Princes Bridge, Sheet, Kings Fernsden) are all currently automatic half barriers, which will lower and partially block the road without signaller intervention when a train reaches a certain point on the line. These crossings’ lack of remote monitoring and higher risk of trespass means they pose an unacceptable safety risk to both our passengers and road users.

These older crossings are being replaced by a manually controlled full barrier system, which will use state-of-the-art obstacle detection. When a train approaches, the signaller will check the crossing is clear, then sound the alarm, lowering the barriers after a brief delay so pedestrians or vehicles can move away. The crossing is constantly scanned by an obstacle detection system to ensure the crossing remains clear when a barrier is down. This safer method of operation means the barrier down time will increase to ensure no one using the crossing is caught between the barriers.

In addition to this work, two footpath crossings will be upgraded to Miniature Stop Light Systems at Shutters Lane and Hammer Lane.

Signal Boxes

Control of the lines signalling will be moved from three signal boxes (Farncombe, Haslemere and Petersfield) to the Basingstoke Rail Operating Centre.

Petersfield signal box will be retained for railway use, while Haslemere signal box will be transferred into community use.

Farncombe signal box is set to be demolished as part of the upcoming commissioning works. Doing so allows us to install new level crossing equipment, including the machine to operate the barriers and the CCTV and lighting column, in an otherwise constrained location. Not only is this a more efficient use of the space, but this location is better for safety as it gives the best available view of the crossing, reduces sun glare, and limits the impact of the lighting column on nearby residents. Work is underway to relocate the name plate and signalling diagram to Farncombe station, preserving the history of the signal box.

To find out more about our work and to follow progress on this programme, visit: www.networkrail.co.uk/running-the-railway/our-routes/wessex/portsmouth-direct-upgrade/

Our communication campaign is starting soon, with information posters in stations and advertising on social media. We will also be writing to our lineside neighbours along the line letting them know of the upcoming improvement works.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to get in touch. It would be really appreciated if you could share this information with you constituents to help us raise awareness of the upcoming closure.

Kind regards,

South Western Railway and Network Rail