Why are service alterations not on South Western Railway's journey planner?

[Fiyero]

I am getting rather confused. I want to go from Eastleigh to Southampton on the 13th and Eastleigh to London on the 21st. I checked the Journey planner, saw trains looked normal and made my arrangements.
I then heard the Southampton line is closed at weekends, I have checked the Planned Improvements Page and it is.
I thought I'd check the 21st on there and it says there are closures at Waterloo and Basingstoke so a smooth journey is far from assured!

How can I find out the actual journeys I can make? (sorry if this is the wrong section)

 

[Starmill]

They often don't manage to upload the actual timetable that will run until a few days beforehand. You wanted to plan? You're out of luck.

My suggestion is that you purchase a ticket on the SWR website (get a reservation if possible, although it will not be for an actual seat) against an itinerary. Once you have a contract in place they will need to compensate you through delay repay if it so happens that engineering work delays your journey as stated in your confirmation email (or offer you a full refund should you choose not to travel).

 

[Kite159]

They often don't manage to upload the actual timetable that will run until a few days beforehand. You wanted to plan? You're out of luck.

My suggestion is that you purchase a ticket on the SWR website (get a reservation if possible, although it will not be for an actual seat) against an itinerary. Once you have a contract in place they will need to compensate you through delay repay if it so happens that engineering work delays your journey as stated in your confirmation email (or offer you a full refund should you choose not to travel).

That's not such a bad idea, as it sounds like buses replace all trains in Basingstoke until mid-afternoon (and judging by the first XC service being shown is the 15:47 Manchester so looks like closed until around ~ 15:30), with service alternations afterwards due to works in the Waterloo area.

 

[Fiyero]

Thanks,
I was looking to use one of my gold card free tickets for the trip to London so just need to know what trains actually run (e.g. I'd rather go to Southampton then go the long way than get a bus!).
If the trip to Southampton will be a bus I might as well get an actual bus!

 

[Fiyero]

They often don't manage to upload the actual timetable that will run until a few days beforehand. You wanted to plan? You're out of luck.

My suggestion is that you purchase a ticket on the SWR website (get a reservation if possible, although it will not be for an actual seat) against an itinerary. Once you have a contract in place they will need to compensate you through delay repay if it so happens that engineering work delays your journey as stated in your confirmation email (or offer you a full refund should you choose not to travel).

Will that definitely work? I know I want to go up before lunch and come back after 22:00 but it wouldn't be a reservation, it would be a super off peak return (with Gold Card discount) with an itinerary, would that count?

As it happens I asked in Eastleigh ticket office tonight and was assured there were no issues! (on the 21st)

 

[Starmill]

If you purchase a ticket with an itinerary then that must be honoured. Once you have a contract (i.e. once you've paid for your ticket) the railway industry must transport you to your destination in line with the NRCoT. This may be by train, by an alternative route or by road if there are no trains available. If this is not possible then you may be asked to stay overnight in the accommodation they will provide. This seems unlikely to me though. Provided you are at the station in time you should be on a bus, train or combination of these back to Eastleigh. If all else fails a taxi is likely. If it so happens that you are delayed as a result of any of this then Delay Repay would apply. I would advise booking with SWR if you are travelling with them, and keeping your email confirmation handy.

 

[Kite159]

As an uneducated guess, if the block is at Basingstoke then normally SWR divert one Southampton train an hour via Guildford & Fareham, running connection services from Southampton Central to Winchester

You might not get a "seat reservation" as when I tried with the 19:15 Waterloo - Exeter it came up as "no seat reservations available, please try again with selecting a different service", but you should hopefully get an itinerary you can claim against.
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Coming up on NRE as

Engineering work is taking place between London Waterloo and Clapham Junction, closing platforms 7-15 at London Waterloo.

An amended service will run on all routes to and from London Waterloo via Woking

Sunday until 15:25

London Waterloo to Poole services will be replaced by buses between Woking and Winchester.

Additional trains will run between London Waterloo and Weymouth and between Winchester and Southampton Central.

Trains between London Waterloo and Exeter St Davids will be replaced by buses between Woking and Andover.

Sunday after 15:25

London Waterloo to Poole services will be replaced by buses between Woking and Basingstoke.

Additional trains will run between Basingstoke and Southampton Central.

Trains between London Waterloo and Exeter St Davids will be replaced by buses between Woking and Basingstoke.

All day Sunday

Trains between London Waterloo and Weymouth will divert via Guildford, Havant and Fareham. Please allow for an extended journey time on this route.

Trains between London Waterloo and Basingstoke will divert via Guildford and run to Alton.

Trains between London Waterloo and Portsmouth Harbour will terminate at Eastleigh.

Buses will run between the following stations:

• Woking and Basingstoke
• Woking and Winchester

I hope someone has told GWR to put on a 3-coach Turbo on the hourly Basingstoke/Reading stopper rather than the usual 2-coach

 

[Kite159]

Good to see SWR/NR still up to their usual tricks and still hasn't loaded the various changes into the system for Sunday yet...

... And they wonder why passenger numbers are falling, I wonder how many passengers will get caught out this weekend and won't consider using the railway again.

 

[Fiyero]

Good to see SWR/NR still up to their usual tricks and still hasn't loaded the various changes into the system for Sunday yet...

... And they wonder why passenger numbers are falling, I wonder how many passengers will get caught out this weekend and won't consider using the railway again.

I know. I still can't decide whether to go to London! On the way up I have all the time in the world but really want to know how much more than the 1hr17 posted on the return!!

 

[Fiyero]

So it seems they were finally uploaded on Friday or Saturday, it made my journey unfeasible as if I missed the 22:07 I wouldn't have got home!!! Luckily the weather has been so bad I am glad I didn't go!