LEVEL crossings in Wokingham town centre will be closed for nearly a month for upgrade works, the final part of a £116 million upgrade programme.
During the closures traffic will be diverted.
And there will be line closures on the network between Reading and Ascot during February half-term, meaning rail replacement closures will be in operation.
Buses will replace South Western Railway (SWR) and Great Western Railway (GWR) trains between Reading, Bracknell and Guildford, extending to Ascot and Aldershot on some weekends.
Network Rail says the works are to allow for a complete refurbishment of the signals and the levels crossings close to Wokingham railway station. In all, there will be 43 signals replaced.
The level crossings will be at Wokingham station and the Star Lane crossing on Easthampstead Road.
At Wokingham station, a manually controlled barrier will be upgraded with CCTV monitors. The work starts from 10pm on Friday, January 26, and will be completed by 4am on Monday, February 19.
While the railway is closed, engineers will also be working at Wokingham Junction to upgrade switches and crossings as well as completing routine maintenance and structure examination to make best use of the railway being closed for nine days.
At Easthampstead Road (Star Lane), engineers will install new equipment aimed at extending the life of the crossing by 30 years.
It will close at 10pm on Friday, February 2, through to 4am on Monday, February 19.
While the level crossing closures are in place, Network Rail says the diversionary routes will be well sign-posted and mapped – ensuring that road users are well advised.
Network Rail says this will mark the end of its £116m Feltham and Wokingham re-signalling programme which, over the past four years, has seen upgrades to key signalling equipment and level crossings controlled by the Feltham Area Signalling Centre and Wokingham Signal Box.
This covers 80 miles of railway and 500 separate pieces of signalling equipment in key areas of the South Western Railway (SWR) network including Feltham, Hounslow, Shepperton, Twickenham, Windsor & Eton Riverside and Wokingham.
Once complete, it means a digitised signalling system will be in place that Network Rail hopes will improve train performance, increase future capacity, result in fewer delays, and enhance the safety of level crossings.
Tom McNamee, Network Rail’s Wessex route infrastructure director, said: “These works are critical to us being able to deliver a safe, modern and reliable service for customers travelling on our network between Reading, Bracknell and Guildford.
“There’s never a good time to close the railway, and we know that level crossing closures in Wokingham will be disruptive to local road users. However, delivering the bulk of these works during the half-term break, when fewer people travel by rail and the schools are closed, helps us minimise the disruption to our customers who rely on this important stretch of railway.
“We’re grateful to customers and local residents living alongside the railway for their patience and understanding while we continue upgrading the railway.”
A spokesperson for South Western Railway added: “We would like to remind customers to check before travelling ahead of these vital improvements, as buses will replace our train services between Reading, Bracknell and Ascot at differing times between Saturday 10 and Sunday 18 February.
“Customers heading to Twickenham for the England v Wales rugby fixture on Saturday, February 10 should also plan ahead.
“We’re very grateful for our customers’ patience as this work is carried out.”
Great Western Railway station manager for the North Downs line Andrew Gallaugher said: “As we continue to invest in the railway, this work is really important to ensure we can maintain and improve resilience.
“Buses will replace trains between Reading and Guildford between Saturday 10 and Sunday 18 February; journeys will take slightly longer, and we urge those travelling to check their journey beforehand.
“Thank you in advance for your patience and understanding.”
Dates of rail replacement buses
South Western Railway will not be serving stops between Bracknell and Reading on Saturday, February 10.
Passengers looking to go to stations towards London Waterloo will be able to catch a replacement bus instead.
A similar situation is in place on Sunday, February 11, but this time trains will not run between Reading and Ascot.
Then, from Monday, February 12 through to 7.30pm on Saturday, February 17, services will not run between Reading and Bracknell.
After that time, there will be no trains between Reading and Ascot until Monday, February 19.
Rail replacement buses will be in operation.
There will also be alterations to the Great Western Railway services between Reading and Guildford between Saturday, February 10 and Sunday, February 18.
Again, rail replacement buses will be in operation.
Replacement buses between Reading and Bracknell or Ascot will run every 30 minutes, while they will run every hour on weeekdays and two hours at weekends between Reading and Guildford.
GWR replacement buses will not serve Earley, Winnersh Triangle or Winnersh stations.
