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Station car park closure postponed

A closure of Farnham station car park for major improvement works has been postponed for one week - as a result of the emergency closure of the railway between Farnham and Alton.

The line between the two stations was closed on April 13 to allow emergency repair work to stabilise an embankment in Wrecclesham to take place, and it is not expected to re-open until next Wednesday, April 20.

To avoid further disruption South West Trains has confirmed work on Farnham station^s new single-storey deck car park is now expected to start a week later than planned on Monday, April 25.

Replacement buses are running while the railway is closed and passengers can continue to park, as normal, at Farnham station to catch the buses. However, it is likely a small number of spaces will be taken from time to time next week for early preparation for the car park works.

When completed in August, more than 170 additional spaces will be available for passengers, adding to the 355 already available.

Network Rail has been monitoring the stability of the Wrecclesham embankment since April 1, with speed restrictions in place, but took the decision to temporarily close the line after fears that heavy rain could further affect the embankment^s stability.

The temporary closure will allow engineers to investigate the source of the issues and begin the process of fixing the problem.

A Network Rail spokesman said: ^By temporarily closing the line it will ensure the safety of passengers and minimise the risk of any unplanned closures in the future. Network Rail apologises for the inconvenience caused, but the safety of passengers must always be its highest priority.^

Rail replacement buses will also serve Bentley, but due to their size they will not be able to serve Bentley station, instead stopping in the village to pick-up and drop off passengers.

Buses toward Alton will stop outside the Memorial Hall, departing Farnham on the hour and 30 minutes past each hour and depart Bentley Memorial Hall at 10 and 40 minutes past each hour.

Those going toward Farnham will stop outside The Star Inn, departing Alton at 25 and 55 minutes past each hour and depart Bentley village Star Inn at 35 and 05 minutes past each hour.

The first bus departs Farnham at 6.30am and the last one at 10pm, while the first bus departs Alton at 5.25am and the last one at 9.25pm.

Passengers are advised to check before they travel through National Rail Enquiries or South West Trains.

Railway between Farnham and Alton to remain closed

(http://www.farnhamherald.com/images/news/2016/Wrecclesham-Landslip-4.jpg) (http://www.farnhamherald.com/images/news/2016/Wrecclesham-Landslip-1.JPG) (http://www.farnhamherald.com/images/news/2016/Wrecclesham-Landslip-2.jpg) (http://www.farnhamherald.com/images/news/2016/Wrecclesham-Landslip-3.JPG)

The railway line between Farnham and Alton is likely to remain closed until Monday, May 9, following a landslip at Wrecclesham - Network Rail has confirmed.

Network Rail^s ^orange army^ has been on site since Wednesday evening assessing the impact of the landslip and at the end of last week observed that the site was continuing to deteriorate further.

Following additional investigations over the weekend Network Rail has developed a clear programme of works to re-open the railway safely for passengers as soon as possible.

South West Trains will continue to operate replacement buses between Farnham, Bentley and Alton stations. For more information on these and to plan journeys, passengers should visit the website www.southwesttrains.co.uk.

To reduce the inconvenience to passengers as far as possible, South West Trains is also postponing work to extend Farnham railway station^s car park until May 9. This will allow passengers to continue to park at the station while emergency work takes place.

Stuart Kistruck, Network Rail^s director of route asset management said: ^We^ve now completed our ground investigations to understand what is going on underground and started on site to clear vegetation which will allow our machinery to operate safely. We^ll be starting work to stabilise the ground today (Tuesday, April 19). Our orange army will be working around the clock until we have re-stabilised the ground, so that we can safely re-open the railway, and we^re looking at all opportunities to bring forward the opening date. I^d like to thank passengers and our neighbours for their patience while we resolve the problem, and ask that all passengers remember to check before they travel.^

Network Rail will at times be working 24 hours a day on site and once the bank is stable engineers will then begin testing ahead of re-opening the line.