NETWORK Rail has announced three days of improvement work, resulting in major changes to Hampshire and Dorset services.

The service has urged passengers travelling on trains between London Waterloo and South West London, Surrey, Hampshire, Dorset and Wiltshire to check before they travel and plan ahead.

Between Saturday and Monday engineers will be renewing sets of points – which allow trains to move between tracks – and replacing track, allowing for faster journeys.

The scale of the work means that there will be major changes to train times, with some journeys taking between 30 and 50 minutes longer.

Alan Penlington, South Western Rail’s customer experience director, said: “The improvements to this important section of track near Weybridge will improve reliability and punctuality for years to come. Removing these speed restrictions will mean trains can run at line speed again which is great news for our customers.

“With the line closed for three days, one of which being a working Monday, I know there will be some inconvenience for anyone travelling whilst trains aren’t running and I’d like to thank all our customers for their patience whilst these much needed improvements take place.”

When the points are renewed and the track’s alignment is corrected, trains will be able to pass through the area at the full speed of 90 miles per hour, keeping them on time and improving performance.