South Western Railway has revealed details of a “consolidated timetable” in response to the rapid spread of Omicron.

The transport provider is suffering severe staff shortages due to Covid illness and isolation, which have led to a string of short-term cancellations.

From Monday, January 17, the company is introducing a new timetable, more suited to current staff levels, to improve the reliability of its services and properly serve key workers, school pupils and those who cannot work from home.

Key changes, which will affect services in south west London, include:

  • Waterloo to Exeter services will split at Salisbury
  • Waterloo to Weymouth services will split at Bournemouth
  • The Shepperton branch will reduce to hourly
  • Waterloo to Alton will reduce to hourly
  • Waterloo to Basingstoke will reduce to hourly
  • The last train of each day will be earlier than at present

SWR’s Managing Director Claire Mann said: “The spread of the Omicron variant has had a significant impact on our railway, with fewer people using the train and staff shortages impacting on our ability to consistently deliver the current timetable.

“Having assessed demand and spoken to our industry colleagues, we believe this new timetable is the most effective means of ensuring our customers receive a reliable service, with short-notice cancellations minimised.

“Journey planners will be updated on a week-by-week basis, with updates taking place towards the end of each week.

"Customers should check their journey as close to their time of travel as possible.”

You can view the full changes to the timetable here