Tuesday 25 Aug 2009

NETWORK RAIL TO DELIVER £47m BANK HOLIDAY RAIL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAMME

Region & Route:
National

Network Rail engineers will be working around the clock this August bank holiday weekend (29-31) to deliver more than £47m-worth of rail improvement projects.

Over the weekend, more than 4,750 Network Rail people will be at sites across Britain completing 220,000 hours of work. This bank holiday will also see 3,500 more trains running over the August bank holiday compared to last year as Network Rail continues to reduce disruption to journeys.

The improvements are part of the £35bn Network Rail will be investing in Britain’s railway over the next five years. The result will be more seats on more trains, improved punctuality and new journey opportunities for passengers and freight carriers on a network which is more reliable and more cost effective than ever before.

Iain Coucher, Network Rail’s chief executive, said: “We are continue to make sustained levels of investment in Britain’s rail network over the next five years as we seek to build a bigger and better railway for passengers and freight users.

“Our planned rail improvement programme is vital to the railway network’s ability to continue to provide a high-quality service to business and leisure travellers, and we must take advantage of quieter times like bank holidays to deliver these improvements for passengers.”


Network Rail understands this work can have an impact on people’s journeys and has been working closely with its rail industry partners to give passengers the information they need before they travel.

Although the vast majority of services will run as normal, Network Rail is advising travellers to plan their journey in advance and check before they travel at National Rail enquiries on 08457 48 49 50 or at www.nationalrail.co.uk/Holidays.

Notes to editors

Overview of work London Farringdon (Snowhill Tunnel) This £1.7m investment will see the installation of a new crossover and, together with platform extensions, will enable an increase in train frequencies and train length on completion of the Thameslink programme – a £5.5bn congestion-busting scheme for trains running through the heart of London. South East West Sussex: Black Rabbit and Peppering Bridges A £6.2m investment will see the simultaneous reconstruction of two 3-span bridges over the river Arun. The new structures will be composite steel and concrete decks with a design life of 120 years. Tunbridge Wells: 12 Car Turn Back Siding This £10.4m investment will see the construction of a new siding just south of Tunbridge Wells between Grove and Strawberry Hill Tunnels and will enable the introduction of the new December 2009 timetable. Colchester to Clacton: Resignalling Part of the £90m Colchester to Clacton resignalling project to install more modern signalling infrastructure on the Great Eastern (GE) main line. Bethnal Green to Bow Junction: OLE Renewals This work forms part of phase one of the £209m Overhead Line Renewal of the Great Eastern Line between London Liverpool Street and Chelmsford and Southend Victoria. The new system will increase reliability on the route. Camden Road East Jn to Dlaston Jn – NLRIP These works are part of the £325 million North London Rail Infrastructure Programme to increase capacity on sections of the London Overground network ahead of the 2012 Olympic. The works involve the construction of under track reinforced concrete struts to replace exist ones. Wales and West Country Chipping Campden, Tunnel Redoubling The first part of the £70m Cotswold Redoubling project, this £4m scheme will create a two-track railway through the tunnel and improve drainage in the structure. Midlands Hampton Lovett: bridge arch renovation Waterproofing of 18m single span masonry bridge. Works will involve lifting the track and ballast over the structure, installing a sand blanket, new waterproof membrane and new ballast before relaying the sleepers and rails. South Erewash: East Midlands Signalling Renewal Part of a £104m resignalling project this work will renew existing signalling and enable the transfer of control of the equipment to the new East Midlands Control Centre. Long Eaton (Sheet Stores Jn): S&C Renewal This weekend will see the completion of a £2.3m switches and crossings and track renewal project. North West Vale Royal Viaduct: Plain Line Track Renewal The work includes renewal of track, re-ballasting and re-sleepering and will enable train speeds on the line to be raised to110mph. Main service alterations London – Thameslink Farringdon (Snowhill Tunnel) Until 2012, there are no 'cross-London' services between St Pancras International and London Bridge/Herne Hill at weekends During this time, customers should use London Underground (or London Buses at weekends only) to cross Central London. Outside London Underground operating hours, replacement buses will be provided between London Blackfriars / London Bridge and London St Pancras Until Autumn 2011, London Blackfriars Underground station will be closed. Customers should travel to Temple / Mansion House / City Thameslink stations which are close to Blackfriars. London Blackfriars mainline station remains open during this time At weekends, replacement buses will also run between Tulse Hill / Herne Hill and London Blackfriars via Loughborough Junction and Elephant & Castle Tickets will also be accepted, at the weekend only on the following London Bus services: · Route 17: Kings Cross - London Bridge · Routes 45, 63, N63: Kings Cross - Elephant & Castle · Route 214: Kings Cross - Kentish Town London & South East West Sussex - Black Rabbit and Peppering Bridge Saturday and Monday London Victoria to Bognor Regis / Portsmouth Harbour / Southampton Central services will run as far as Pulborough Brighton to West Worthing services will be extended to run to Littlehampton London Victoria to Littlehampton via Hove trains will be diverted after Worthing to Portsmouth Harbour or Southampton Central, calling at intermediate stations. Passengers for stations to Littlehampton should change at Worthing. Littlehampton to Bognor Regis services will start from Arundel Buses replace trains between: · Pulborough and Barnham · Amberley and Barnham Sunday London Victoria to Bognor Regis services will run as far as Billingshurst Additional Arundel to Bognor Regis services will operate every 30 minutes calling at Littlehampton, Ford, Barnham and Bognor Regis Buses replace trains between: · Billingshurst and Barnham · Amberley and Barnham From 18.00 Monday Buses also replace trains between Arundel and Littlehampton, Amberley and Pulborough. Buses from Arundel to Amberley and Pulborough will depart from outside St Nicholas Church, London Road in the town centre, and not from the railway station Tunbridge Wells - 12 Car Turn Back Siding. Saturday Buses replace trains between Tunbridge Wells and Wadhurst. Journey times will be extended by up to 50 minutes Sunday and Monday Buses replace trains between Tonbridge and Wadhurst. Journey times will be extended by up to 60 minutes Colchester to Clacton - Resignalling Buses replace trains between Colchester and Walton-on-the-Naze Bethnal Green to Bow Junction – OLE Renewals. No trains will run between London Liverpool Street and Stratford

Contact information

Passengers / community members
Network Rail national helpline
03457 11 41 41

Latest travel advice
Please visit National Rail Enquiries

Journalists
Network Rail press office - National
020 3356 8700
mediarelations@networkrail.co.uk

About Network Rail

We own, operate and develop Britain's railway infrastructure; that's 20,000 miles of track, 30,000 bridges, tunnels and viaducts and the thousands of signals, level crossings and stations. We run 20 of the UK's largest stations while all the others, over 2,500, are run by the country's train operating companies.

Usually, there are almost five million journeys made in the UK and over 600 freight trains run on the network. People depend on Britain's railway for their daily commute, to visit friends and loved ones and to get them home safe every day. Our role is to deliver a safe and reliable railway, so we carefully manage and deliver thousands of projects every year that form part of the multi-billion pound Railway Upgrade Plan, to grow and expand the nation's railway network to respond to the tremendous growth and demand the railway has experienced - a doubling of passenger journeys over the past 20 years.

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