University students urged to follow guidelines on South Western Railway during travel window
Thousands will be going home from today
Students travelling home for Christmas on Surrey and Hampshire's rail network are being urged to follow coronavirus guidance.
A South Western Railway spokesperson said the operator has been dealing directly with universities along the network, providing advice specifically for students, on travelling safely on its trains.
It has also shared advice on social media channels.
The operator says while carriages and stations are sanitized, people should still keep their distance and wash their hands, as well as wear face coverings.
It also suggests students travel light.
SWR said it had not changed its travel timetable for the window, after it amended it in September in order to increase capacity and facilitate social distancing.
In a statement, it said it would have extra staff on hand at some stations:
"We have a dedicated command and control structure in place for the travel window period which is in charge of constantly fine tuning our response.
"We are deploying extra staff at some stations to assist students and ensure a positive customer experience for everyone.
"Since the start of the pandemic a number of measures have been taken to ensure that our services are safe to use.
"We have enhanced our cleaning regimes - using special chemicals on our trains and stations, installed hand sanitiser machines at stations and increased capacity to facilitate social distancing."
The following universities are on South Western Railway's network:
Bournemouth University
University of Southampton
Southampton Solent University
University of Portsmouth
Exeter University
University of Surrey
Kingston University London
University of Roehampton
University Centre Sparsholt
St Marys Twickenham
University of West London
University of Winchester
Yeovil College University Centre
Royal Holloway, University of London
Arts University Bournemouth
University of Reading