Media centre

Monday 25 Apr 2005

BANK HOLIDAY WEEKEND BRINGS MAY-JOR RAILWAY IMPROVEMENTS

Region & Route:

| Southern

Taking advantage of the May Bank holiday weekend, Network Rail is investing heavily in a full programme of essential engineering work. Peter Leppard, Network Rail Route Director said: “Network Rail is committed to rebuilding the railway and the May Bank holiday is a good opportunity as there are fewer people using the trains. We are making full use of our resources to carry out these essential improvements which will bring long-term benefits to passengers.” Our largest engineering project will take place on the Great Western main line where the lines between Twyford and Slough will close from Saturday 30 April to Monday 2 May (inclusive). This will allow engineers to carry out extensive maintenance work in the Maidenhead area, renewing track points and essential components to improve the performance of the railway. The work means that there will be no direct First Great Western services between London Paddington and Reading from Saturday 30 April to Monday 2 May (inclusive). Passengers travelling from London to Reading and stations west of Reading are advised to use South West Trains services from London Waterloo to Reading. From Reading, the majority of First Great Western services to South Wales, South West England and the Malverns will then resume. For passengers requiring local stations between London Paddington and Reading, a shuttle train service will operate between London Paddington and Slough. A replacement bus service will then run from Slough calling at Burnham, Taplow, Maidenhead and Twyford. Train services from London Paddington to Reading will resume from Tuesday morning onwards, but to allow the final stages of the engineering work to be completed, services will run to a reduced frequency throughout the remainder of the day.  Peter Leppard continued: “Large scale engineering work is essential to the future of the railway. While most of the country enjoys an extended weekend break, hundreds of dedicated railway staff will be forgoing their May Bank holiday weekend to undertake this intensive programme of engineering, helping to deliver a better railway.” This engineering work has been specifically programmed around the May Bank holiday weekend to ensure passengers travelling at peak times and commuters are largely unaffected. Half as many people use trains over the holidays compared to normal travel times, on average. The work has been planned in close consultation with train operating companies to ensure passengers can complete their journeys using alternative travel arrangements.  For travel advice, passengers are advised to consult individual train operators or National Rail Enquiries on 08457 48 49 50 or www.nationalrail.co.uk.