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Thursday 11 Mar 2004

12 MILLION CONTRACT AWARDED TO EASE EAST COAST RAIL BOTTLENECK

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National

Network Rail today announced Carillion as the successful bidder for the £12 million contract to design and build a new double line section of railway at Allington Junction, near Grantham.  These works are to be jointly funded by the Strategic Rail Authority and Network Rail. The new section of railway will improve reliability and performance on the East Coast Main Line and deliver greater route flexibility.  It will also offer improved connections for local services into Grantham and long distance services.  When combined with other improvements it will also increase capacity on the East Coast Main Line. At present, trains between Nottingham and Skegness via Grantham travel on the East Coast Main Line between Grantham and Barkston South Junction.  When these local trains run, they occupy capacity on the East Coast Main Line for up to 15 minutes.  The new chord will remove the need for them to use the East Coast Main Line, providing a dedicated route to and from Grantham station on the Nottingham branch line. The contract includes design, earthworks, installation of the new 450 metre chord, major resignalling work and the removal of the existing Barkston Chord and signal box.  A new signal box, to replace the existing structure, will also be built at Allington.  The level crossing at Allington will be upgraded to modern barrier design and a life expired underbridge will be reconstructed. - more - Allington – 2 This scheme is the first project developed by the East Coast Main Line SRA/Network Rail Integrated Project Team.  Construction will begin in April this year with the new chord due to open in time for the December 2005 timetable change. Richard Bowker, Chairman of the SRA said: “The scheme at Allington will ease a significant bottleneck on the East Coast Main Line, delivering benefits for both long distance and local services.  This project is evidence that, through working closely together, the rail industry can deliver quick wins for passengers.” Peter Henderson, Director Projects and Engineering, Network Rail said: “The award of this contract recognises the positive working relationship between Network Rail and the SRA and is a significant step towards improvements to the capacity, flexibility and reliability of the East Coast Main Line.”