Media centre

Tuesday 24 May 2016

Spring bank holiday investment means more new railway tracks for Oxenholme

Region & Route:

| North West & Central

Passengers heading through Oxenholme, Cumbria, are being urged to check before they travel over the spring bank holiday weekend as Network Rail's orange army continues its railway upgrade.

Engineers will start work on the West Coast main line at Oxenholme and on the Windermere branch line at 5.15am on Saturday 28 May and the lines will reopen at midday on Monday 30 May.

The work is being completed as part of a scheme to replace track and improve the layout through Oxenholme station. The essential upgrade will pave the way for more reliable services for passengers in future.

Martin Frobisher, route director at Network Rail, said: “The work at Oxenholme to replace life expired track will improve the track layout in the area, making it easier to maintain. This will lead to more reliable services for passengers in the future.

“There is never an ideal time to close the railway and I appreciate there will be some disruption as a result of this work. Bank holidays are typically much quieter times on the railway and we plan the work to cause the least amount of disruption to the fewest number of people. I’d like to thank passengers for their patience while we carry out this investment to provide a better railway.”

Alex Hynes, managing director for Northern Rail, said: “Investment in infrastructure helps contribute to a real improvement in performance and reliability for our customers on this line of route. Our advice to customers is to check before travelling and allow additional time where possible.”

Michelle Ragozzino, Virgin Trains station manager at Oxenholme, said: “Over the bank holiday, some destinations along the West Coast Mainline may be served by fewer trains and some may only be reachable by rail replacement coaches. Due to this and the ongoing improvement works at Oxenholme, parking at the station will be extremely limited, so passengers should definitely check their journey before they travel and leave plenty of time to arrive at the station. We have worked closely with Network Rail to ensure alternative travel arrangements and parking spaces are in place to keep disruption to a minimum whilst this important work is carried out.”

Nationally over 9,000 members of Network Rail’s orange army will be working round-the-clock over the long weekend to deliver vital elements of the company’s Railway Upgrade Plan, which will provide a bigger, better, more reliable railway for passengers and businesses across Britain.

A total of £30m will be invested over three days to renew track, upgrade signalling systems and help boost the capacity of the network so more trains can run in future. The work has been planned to minimise disruption, as passenger numbers typically drop by more than half during a bank holiday. The overwhelming majority of journeys will be unaffected by engineering work.

Improvements at Oxenholme will continue at night times and other times when trains are not running until the end of August.

ENDS

Notes to editors:

The Railway Upgrade Plan is Network Rail’s spending plan for Britain’s railways for the five year period up to 31 March 2019. The plan is designed to provide more capacity, relieve crowding and respond to tremendous growth the railways have seen – a doubling of passengers in the past twenty years. The plan will deliver a bigger, better railway with more trains, longer trains, faster trains with more infrastructure, more reliable infrastructure and better facilities for passengers, especially at stations

Although the vast majority of the network will be unaffected by planned improvement work, passengers are advised to check their journeys if travelling over the bank holiday at www.nationalrail.co.uk

Passenger information:

Between Saturday 28 May and midday on Monday 30  May:

Bus replacements will run at various points along the line between:
Warrington and Glasgow
Crewe and Preston
Preston and Lancaster
Lancaster and Carlisle
Carlisle and Glasgow Central / Edinburgh

Caledonian Sleeper trains will be diverted between Motherwell and London Euston and will not call at Carlisle, Preston, Crewe or Watford Junction

Virgin Trains will not operate north of Wigan.

Liverpool services will be diverted via Moss and Manchester.

Services to Scotland will be diverted via Helsby, Wigan and Warrington with busses running up to Scotland.