The change in plans will now see work to install more than 10km of cables and new signalling equipment for the Hounslow Loop line carried out from Sunday the 1st of May with work continuing through til Wednesday the 4th of May. The Hounslow Loop line connects London Waterloo with Chiswick, Richmond, Twickenham, Hounslow and Brentford.

Network Rail‘s managing director for Wessex route, Mark Killick, said:

“It’s fantastic to see the Army-Navy match back on after so long and I’m pleased we’ve been able to move our work so fans can travel to and from the game by train. It does mean that we are going to be doing our engineering work well into the working week though, and it’s important that customers work out their routes to their workplaces.

“There will be replacement buses running along with the usual buses in the area, and the main line via Twickenham is going to be open throughout.

“This is part of a massive £375m scheme to improve the railway in the area and reduce the delays caused by signalling faults. Resignalling schemes like this one, and the track work that goes with it, are one of the best ways we have of improving the reliability of our network, so it’s really important we do the job and I’m grateful to our customers for their patience.”

The huge Feltham and Wokingham resignalling scheme is a £375m investment and will cover over 80 miles of railway, seeing more than 500 pieces of signalling equipment. The scheme is set to complete in 2024 and sees the replacement of signalling infrastructure (the traffic lights of the railway) from the 1970s replaced with an up to date and more reliable equivalent.

Following the renewals and upgrade work Network Rail will move the control of the signalling system from Feltham and Wokingham to the state of the art Wessex Rail Operating Centre (ROC) in Basingstoke.

The scheme marked its halfway point last weekend as new signalling equipment was switched on in Ascot and Virginia Water with Hounslow Loop’s new signalling technology is expected to be switched on during August 2023 ahead of the final stage in Wokingham which will go live in 2024.

Christian Neill, SWR’s Customer Experience Director, said:

“The work Network Rail is carrying out is set to significantly boost the reliability and performance of the railway, making it easier to get our customers to where they need to be.

“Closing the railway for four days is never a decision taken lightly, especially when two of those days are during the working week. Whilst it is important that to be able to keep leisure travellers and thousands of rugby fans moving on the Saturday, we’re urging anyone travelling from Sunday to Wednesday to check before they travel as a range of alternative transport options are available in the area.

“We’d also like to thank anyone impacted by these works for their patience and understanding as we work to enhance our network.”

To find out more please visit: https://www.networkrail.co.uk/running-the-railway/our-routes/wessex/feltham-and-wokingham-re-signalling-programme/