RAIL passengers are facing more disruption following a major incident at a Hampshire station earlier this year.

Services between Southampton and Winchester are being suspended at the weekend to enable engineers to install a new set of points at Eastleigh.

The line was closed on January 28 after a freight train was derailed, resulting in six days of emergency repairs to the track.

Temporary points installed after the incident will be replaced with permanent ones on Saturday and Sunday, with extra work taking place on August 2.

Buses will replace trains between Winchester and Southampton Central, Winchester and Fareham, and Southampton Central and Salisbury via Eastleigh.

A Network Rail spokesman said: "We have to plan work in advance and agree the work with interested parties. We installed a temporary set of points until we could carry out a full repair."

The work will affect South Western Railway (SWR), CrossCountry and GWR services.

Mark Killick, route director for Network Rail Wessex, said: “I am sorry for the disruption this will cause passengers this weekend. However, the work we’re doing is vital to keep trains running reliably through Eastleigh."

Alan Penlington, customer experience director for SWR added: “Whilst these works will be disruptive, they are essential for our railway.

“If you are travelling on these dates, we’d ask that you check before you travel and follow the latest guidance on social distancing and face coverings so you can travel safely.”

An hourly SWR service will run between London Waterloo and Winchester.

SWR services between London Waterloo and Weymouth will be diverted, calling additionally at Guildford, Havant and Fareham. On July 26 and August 2 these trains will leave London Waterloo earlier than normal.

The SWR stopping service from Romsey to Salisbury via Southampton will only run between Southampton Central and Salisbury.

As reported in the Daily Echo, the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) launched an investigation into the reasons why the freight train went off the track.

Investigators found that the locomotive partly derailed and then re-railed itself. As a result some of the other wagons also derailed, damaging the track.

The RAIB also discovered that several fastenings that maintain the right distance between the rails had broken.

Investigators said some were broken before the derailment. As the train negotiated the points the rails moved apart and it dropped into the space between them.

Network Rail inspected all similar fastenings but no other problems were identified.

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