Wessex route

The Wessex route covers the major commuter area of south-west London as well as from London Waterloo to the south and south-west of England

This route is one of the busiest on the rail network, taking in all or part of the counties of Surrey, Berkshire, Hampshire, Dorset, Somerset and Wiltshire.

Peak-time capacity is Wessex’s main challenge, specifically with on-train crowding for passengers to and from London. Passenger numbers on the route have more than doubled in the last 20 years, with over half a million people using it every day. There are nearly 200 million passenger journeys on Wessex route each year, including nearly 80 million to or from London Waterloo.

The Wessex route also supports high levels of passenger traffic to and from many other important regional centres, such as Bournemouth, Southampton, Portsmouth, Guildford and Basingstoke.

Off-peak business and leisure travel has shown continued growth in recent years, and the railway through Wessex route is also important for rail freight, linking Southampton Port and Airport with the Midlands and North of England.

Main railway lines

the South West Mainline from London Waterloo to Weymouth

Safety

We work closely with local communities to promote safety by the railway. Find out more on our community safety page.

Projects in Wessex

Wessex railway upgrade plan

Over the next 5 years, we’re investing over £2bn to modernise the railway across the South West and into London. RRV replacing track on the Heart of Wessex Line, September 2024 Between 2024 and 2029...

Heart of Wessex line upgrades

We're making major improvements from Castle Cary to Weymouth Since February 2020, we've been renewing key stretches of track, replacing bridges and carrying out essential maintenance at our stations. Recent line closure March 2025 What...

Portsmouth Direct Upgrade

We're upgrading signalling and track from Woking to Portsmouth Harbour to improve reliability, journey times, and capacity. From early 2022 to 2025, we will carry out a large programme of work. This includes a major...

Wessex Access for All schemes

We will be completing multiple Access for All projects across the region. The Access for All programme is a £350 million scheme to provide an obstacle free, accessible route to and between station platforms. Why...

Improving London Waterloo station

Improving the experience for passengers at London Waterloo This summer, we'll start work renewing the escalators as we continue to make good progress replacing the 100-year-old station roof. We're also improving customer information systems, upgrading...