Media centre

Tuesday 25 Nov 2008

A MILLION HOURS SIGNAL RAIL PROGRESS ON SOUTH WALES SCHEME

Region & Route:

| Wales & Western: Wales & Borders

| Wales & Western

More than £150m will be invested into the next vital phase of the South Wales re-signalling scheme over the next 24 months. A massive programme of work will start early next year to improve the reliability of the rail infrastructure in the Newport area, while the last phase of constructing the South Wales control centre (in Cardiff) gets underway.

In the last three years, engineers have spent more than one million hours to deliver the early phases of the scheme. They saw to fruition a significant improvement to rail services in Port Talbot East where delays dropped by 63% a year after the re-signalling. The team also built the South Wales control centre from canvas to concrete and is now six months away from completing it.

Implementing the £400m South Wales re-signalling scheme began in 2005. It sets to replace life-expired signalling infrastructure across South Wales, bringing step-changes to rail performance in the region over the next seven years and beyond.

Dave Ward, route director of Network Rail said, “This is one of the largest re-signalling programmes in the country and much needed by a region where rail travel is burgeoning. A robust and reliable infrastructure is therefore fundamental to support this growing demand, it will also set the building blocks for further investment to meet future growth. The work programme for the next two years is intensive, but we are prepared for it and are looking forward to achieving the next key milestones for this vital scheme.”

Work to support the re-signalling of the Newport area began six months ago, when 12 overhead signal gantries were installed and a new siding built at Severn Tunnel Junction to facilitate construction work.

Core re-signalling work will be carried out between Patchway – Hereford – Park Junction and they will be delivered in two key stages by the end of 2010. In addition, major track remodelling will take place at Severn Tunnel Junction, East Usk and Maindee East Junction to improve train movements.

The construction of the South Wales control centre, which is instrumental in the smooth operation of train services, will be equipped with state-of-the-art signalling control system and it will be ready for operation by late Spring 2009.

The South Wales re-signalling scheme will be fully completed in 2015 with upgrading the infrastructure in the Cardiff area being the final major programme of work.