NETWORK Rail and South Western Railway are reminding passengers to check before they travel over several weekends this autumn as work to boost capacity at London Waterloo station by 30 per cent continues.

South Western Railway will operate a reduced timetable to and from Waterloo over seven weekends from now until November.

That is while Network Rail continues planned work to upgrade the track and signalling between Waterloo and Vauxhall to be able to accommodate longer, more modern trains, and continues the installation of new stairwells at Vauxhall to improve passengers’ journeys.

The work is the next stage in the £800million Waterloo and South West upgrade that will create space for 45,000 more passengers every morning and every evening by the end of 2018.

Becky Lumlock, route managing director at Network Rail, said: “This autumn we are continuing to deliver our £800million Waterloo & South West Upgrade to boost capacity at Waterloo by 30 per cent. As planned, we will be continuing our upgrades over seven weekends between September and November, laying new track and cables between Waterloo and Vauxhall and building new stairwells at Vauxhall to make room for more passengers.

“While we continue our upgrade work, some platforms at Waterloo and Vauxhall will need to close so South Western Railway will be operating a reduced service over these weekends.

“I’d ask passengers to remember to check before they travel and plan ahead for the changes.”

Andy Mellors, managing director at South Western Railway, said: “The recent weeks have been a challenging time for passengers and employees alike. We’d like to apologise for the continued disruption to services and thank them for their patience whilst these vital Waterloo upgrade works are completed.”

Work will be undertaken over the following weekends – September 23-24, September 30-October 1, October 8, October 14-15, and finally on Sunday, November 12.

Timetables are currently being updated and passengers are advised to check their journey the week before they travel by visiting www.national rail.co.uk or www.southwesternrail way.com

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SWR managing director Andy Mellors said at the unveiling of the new-look railway carriages: “Between now and 2024, we will be investing more than £1.2billion on new and refurbished trains, station improvement projects and the simplification of tickets. We are eager to roll out these improvements which will make journeys better for our customers across the network.”