Westbury Railway Station will be closed, with no trains running through the station, after the end of service on Christmas Eve until 24th January 2025. Network Rail says that the closure is necessary for essential work to upgrade the track and signalling improvements.
The closure is expected to significantly affect commuters, students travelling to schools in neighbouring towns and leisure passengers who rely on the railway.
A Network Rail spokesperson said: “We are planning a significant investment to renew track and upgrade signalling at Westbury to improve reliability for passengers for years to come.
“The work is due to take place around the clock just outside Westbury station from late on Christmas Eve until the early hours of Friday 24th January.
“As this essential upgrade can only be done while trains aren’t running, the line through Westbury will be temporarily closed.
“We are working with our colleagues at GWR to make sure passengers are kept on the move, with trains via Westbury set to be diverted or replaced by buses.
“We appreciate people living close to the railway will be keen to know more and we’ll write to residents with further details closer to the time.”
Preparatory work affecting services is planned for Sunday 10th November and Sunday 15th December, with follow-up work over the weekends of 1st to 2nd February and 8th to 9th March.
During the rail closure, repairs will also be made to a viaduct between Warminster and Salisbury. All passengers are advised to plan ahead and check before travelling.
“The railways have a backlog of maintenance to catch up on,” explains Graham Ellis, a director of TravelWatch SouthWest, “and with modern safety standards for workers and budget constraints, this means that no trains can be run while lines are being renewed, which now takes place during the day as well as at night, and during the week as well as at weekends.
“At Westbury over the new year, the major work involves the replacement of pointwork that is unreliable and once the new pointwork is bedded in, this should result in less disruption to services which now use the three platforms at the station to capacity, and sometimes beyond. Current Network Rail studies suggest that there is an operational need to reinstate the fourth platform at the station.”
