AN MP has called for more awareness over the huge curtailing of train services in and out of Basingstoke this summer, to help avoid ‘transport misery’.

From August 5 to August 28, around 50% of rail services through Basingstoke will be cut to allow major upgrade works to be undertaken at London Waterloo.

Now, Maria Miller MP has called on South West Trains and Network Rail to ensure that all passengers using rail services in and out of Basingstoke are aware of the full scale of the service cuts.

The MP said: “South West Trains has worked hard to tell regular train users of the massive cuts to services in August, but Basingstoke residents who may be planning a day trip to London with their children may be blissfully unaware of the problems they could encounter.

“With peak-time commuter trains protected, the number of trains at off-peak times will be slashed.

“People should expect to queue to get into Waterloo station in the evenings and think twice about using the service in the affected period.

“I have asked Network Rail, South West Trains and the new franchisee [FirstGroup and MTR, which runs the franchise from August 20] to do more to tell leisure travellers the true scale of the cuts to services to avoid unnecessary transport misery for people in August.”

Becky Lumlock, route managing director at Network Rail, said: “The work will ultimately mean more trains and longer trains, delivering better journeys for passengers.

“We’ve already made huge strides towards delivering these benefits, but this August we need to extend platforms 1-4 at Waterloo to be able to accommodate longer trains and as a result significantly fewer services will be able to run from Basingstoke to London. We’re advising all passengers to expect stations and trains to be much busier than normal, that queues at stations are likely, and to avoid travelling at the busiest times of day wherever possible.”