NETWORK Rail has published final plans detailing more than £2 billion investment across the Wessex route, covering all services from Waterloo to Weymouth.

Bridges, signal equipment and more than 200 miles of track will be replaced, twice the distance between London Waterloo and Bournemouth stations.

The investment will also see the creation of new frontline teams to help better maintain the railway, monitor infrastructure and respond to incidents.

Network Rail Wessex route managing director Andy Thomas: "This investment is great news for communities across our route - one of the busiest parts of the railway network with 212 million passenger journeys a year.

"Working closely with our train and freight operating companies, I am confident our plan sets out a course of action that will put passengers and rail users first and improve performance as quickly as possible."

South Western Railway managing director Andy Mellors said: "We know that service punctuality is the number one priority for our customers when they travel so this significant investment in Network Rail infrastructure – including tracks, signalling and points - is very welcome news.

“Reliable, well-maintained infrastructure is a key enabler to be able to run our trains on time, which is what our customers rightly expect.

“We will continue to work closely with Network Rail to ensure we put our customers at the heart of everything we do.”

This money will be spent between 2019 and 2024.

Visit networkrail.co.uk to view the plans.