£45 MILLION INVESTMENT FOR COVENTRY PASSENGERS

Friday 26 May 2006

£45 MILLION INVESTMENT FOR COVENTRY PASSENGERS

Region & Route:

Passengers are set to benefit as Network Rail kicks off a £45 million programme to improve the railway in Coventry next month. Over the next 10 months the signalling throughout the Coventry area will be completely renewed while a new stretch of track will be built on the line between Coventry and Leamington.

The Coventry project is part of Network Rail’s £1.5bn nationwide investment in signalling over the next three years. It will mean a major overhaul of the current 1960’s signalling equipment on all 4 routes serving Coventry including Leamington to Nuneaton and Rugby through to Birmingham International. Peter Leppard, Network Rail Area General Manager said: “This major investment in the railway will result in better, more reliable service for passengers and ensure that Coventry remains an important transport hub for the region. The project will involve weekend work and we have consulted with local authorities and residents to ensure we minimise any disturbance for our neighbours while work is carried out.” Central Trains Operations Director, Andy Thomas added; "Reliable, modern signalling is one of the key factors in maintaining and improving operational performance, I'm therefore delighted that this engineering work is going ahead, it will consolidate and continue our improvement in punctuality and reliability. It’s good news for passengers." Network Rail is working with train operating companies to ensure that passengers are fully informed of any timetable alterations. The project will require a series of weekend closures of the Coventry – Leamington line between June and September and a two week closure between 19 August and 4th September. Central Trains services will operate as normal however Virgin Cross Country services will be diverted from Leamington directly to Birmingham. A replacement coach services will be provided between Leamington and Coventry. Passengers are advised to check travel details in advance by contacting National Rail Enquiries on 08457 48 49 50 or www.nationalrail.co.uk

Notes to editors

The project will be completed in Summer 2007 when signalling operations for Coventry will be moved into the new West Midlands Signalling Centre at Saltley. The existing line between Coventry and Leamington is single track only. This is a constraint on capacity through Coventry Station which regularly suffers from congestion, delaying passengers. A new 1.5 mile stretch of track will be installed between Park Junction (adjacent to Quinton Road) through to Gibbet Hill Junction (proceeding Wainbody Wood). Effectively “doubling” the track in this area will increase capacity and allow train operators more operational flexibility to provide a more reliable service for passengers. The two week complete closure of the line from 19 August to 3rd September will involve 24 hour working to install the new track. This is essential to minimize the time required to close the line while ensuring the works are completed successfully. We will work closely with our contractors to ensure any disturbance or noise is kept to a minimum.

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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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