RAIL commuters travelling from and through Petersfield this summer are being warned to look out for the latest news about the effect the closure of nine platforms at Waterloo station will have.

Network Rail, South West Trains (SWT) and the Department for Transport are spending £800 million completing the Waterloo and South West Upgrade (W&SWU) project.

It will increase capacity at Waterloo by almost a third, but platforms one through to nine will be closed from August 5 to August 28; this will mean fewer trains from stations such as Petersfield, Liss, Liphook and Portsmouth.

As part of the Network Rail (NR) customer information programme to keep passengers fully informed, details are being released of services being cut during the work and those running as normal.

An NR spokesman said: “A second phase of passenger communications has begun in order to provide detailed information to help passengers plan travel arrangements well ahead of the summer.

“This includes updated passenger leaflets, posters and banners in stations, window stickers on trains, and online, print and radio advertising to raise awareness, aimed at encouraging passengers to plan ahead.”

Funding for the project was identified in March 2016 by the government and the work is expected to be completed by December 2018.

The NR spokesman added: “To provide more capacity and improve passenger journeys work is being carried out to redevelop the former Waterloo International Terminal to provide an additional five platforms and modern station facilities.

“We have already extended platforms at more than 60 stations, but the final and most complicated part is to extend platforms at Waterloo.”

Work will also include extending platforms one through to four to allow 10-car trains to run on London suburban services in the busiest hours.

Passenger flow will also be improved at the Bakerloo, Northern and Jubilee underground lines and at Waterloo on platforms one through to four, and at the former International Terminal.

To provide extra capacity during the work, platforms 20 to 24 in the former international terminal at Waterloo will be re-opened temporarily.

For information about the work at Waterloo, and the train timetable from Portsmouth to Waterloo while it is going on, visit the South West Trains website, www.southwesttrains.co.uk