SOUTH Western Railway passengers have been urged to plan ahead this festive period as Network Rail carry out upgrade work as part of a nationwide investment of more than £148 million.

Work to take place at Waterloo station from December 23-28 includes the replacement of old switches and crossings, the movable sections of track that guide trains from one track to another. Around half of normal services will be operating during this time.

Work will also take place at Vauxhall station between December 23 and 27 as part of the £4 million project to strengthen and improve the Upper Kennington Lane bridge.

Brick repairs and preparatory work for the refurbishing and strengthening of the railway bridge on Farnham Road will be carried out at Guildford station from December 25-30. And track renewals at Westbury North Junction and work to improve platforms at Westbury station will take place between December 23 and January 3, meaning there will be no South Western Railway services between Salisbury, Westbury and Bristol.

With Victoria and Paddington stations both closed for part of the festive period for their own engineering work, both Waterloo and Clapham Junction stations could be busier than normal at this time of year.

Becky Lumlock, Wessex route managing director for Network Rail, said: “Our ‘team orange’ engineers will be working around the clock throughout the festive period, delivering vital work to provide a better, more reliable railway for our passengers.

“The network is around 50 per cent less busy over the festive period, so while there’s never a good time to cause disruption, this means fewer people will have their journeys affected."