Commuters are facing delays today as rail replacement buses are being brought in due to major work being carried out by Network Rail.

South Western Railway (SWR), Great Western Railway (GWR) and Southern trains will not run between Southampton Central and Havant, Eastleigh and Portsmouth Harbour and Southampton Central and Portsmouth Harbour.

The work is due to last the February half term - February 12 to 16.

Engineers are replacing sleepers and ballast in the Fareham area, and are working on creating smoother journeys by renewing 600 metres of jointed curved rail.

Signalling systems between St Denys and Swanwick are being upgraded as part of a wider Southampton project.

This will see 12,000m metres of signalling cables installed to bring the system up to modern standards. It will extend its life by a further 50 years.

Extra work includes upgrades to switches and crossings, and clearing trees and shrubs.

Work will also be carried out at Portsmouth Harbour station.

Great Western Railway buses will replace trains between Southampton Central and Portsmouth Harbour.

South Western Railway trains between Portsmouth Harbour and London Waterloo will start/ terminate at either Eastleigh or Portsmouth & Southsea.

Rail replacement buses will run between Eastleigh and Portsmouth Harbour Southampton Central and Portsmouth Harbour Portsmouth & Southsea and Portsmouth Harbour Southern

Buses will replace trains between Southampton Central and Havant Portsmouth & Southsea and Portsmouth Harbour/

Jeff Rose, Network Rail's blockade programme manager, said: “We're very sorry for any inconvenience our works will cause to the thousands of customers who use this important stretch of line and live between Portsmouth and Southampton.

"The decision to close the railway is never taken lightly, however we have chosen the February half term to minimise disruption to as many people as possible.

“These works are essential to maintaining and improving railway reliability in the Portsmouth and Fareham areas and will help keep the railway safe.

"We know that by completing these works now, our customers will benefit for years to come and we'd like to thank them for their patience while we carry out these vital reliability upgrades."

Peter Williams, South Western Railway's customer and commercial director, added: “We’re sorry for the disruption that these closures will cause, however, it is important that our colleagues at Network Rail complete these improvements."