Rail customers are being urged to plan ahead this Easter as Network Rail carries out embankment stabilisation work between Axminster and Pinhoe and essential track upgrade work in the Staines area.

From Friday 29 March (Good Friday) to Monday 1 April (Easter Monday), Network Rail's team of engineers will be working around the clock between Hounslow, Staines and Windsor & Eton Riverside to upgrade track for the continued reliable running of the railway.

Over the Easter weekend, engineers will install 800m of third rail (the electrified 750V rail that powers trains), 760m of cabling as well as renewing switches and crossings (moveable sections of track that allows trains to switch from one track to another).

During the closure buses will replace South Western Railway (SWR) services from Hounslow to Ascot, Windsor, Woking and Weybridge.

Tom McNamee Network Rail's Wessex route infrastructure director said: "We're grateful to our passengers for their patience whilst we carry out essential work over the Easter period.

"We carry out a large amount of our work during Easter as passenger numbers are lower, so we disrupt fewer journeys.

"The majority of our route will be open as usual for people wanting to travel over the Easter Bank Holiday, but some services will be affected so we're asking passengers to plan ahead and check before they travel."

Peter Williams, Customer and Commercial Director at South Western Railway, said: "It's really important that customers check before they travel this Easter with engineering work taking place across our network and buses replacing trains in some areas."

As well as the work taking place in the Staines area, rom Saturday 30 March to Monday 1 April work will also be taking place to stabilise a cutting in Umbourne, near Axminster. Engineers will be using a Menzi machine (a four-by-four digger) to install a 300m long wall at the bottom of the embankment which will help prevent debris slipping onto the railway and causing disruption for customers. Drainage inspections and structural examinations will also be completed while the railway is closed.

A range of other upgrades will be completed over the Easter weekend, including:

• Signalling upgrades (the railway's traffic lights) between Woking and Haslemere, as well as in the St Deny's area.
• Level crossing improvements at Liss and Farncombe stations
• Installation of a fully accessible footbridge at Stoneleigh station