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Wednesday 23 Apr 2003

BOURNE END WORKS ON TARGET AND ON TIME

Region & Route:

National

Easter proved to be a successful one for engineers on the southern end of the West Coast, who installed two new crossovers at Bourne End, north of Hemel Hempstead. The work is the first stage in the installation of a series of eight crossovers in total at Bourne End, which will allow trains to switch from one line to another, helping segregate the commuter services from the long distance traffic leading to faster journey times and greater operational flexibility. During the programme, which ran from 21.30hrs on Thursday 17th April to 03.00 on 22nd April, a team of 150 from an alliance comprising ofa  comprising of Network Rail, Balfour Beatty and Westinghouse Rail Systems Limited took part in the project. Work included the installation of the, worked to install the middle middle fFast line crossovers, whilst also taking advantage of the closure to undertake bridge repairs, tunnel works, the repair/renewal of overhead line equipment (OLE), installation of a new signal gantry north of Leighton Buzzard and track repair work. Commented West Coast Area Director Bill HenryProject Director James Martin: ‘This once again demonstrates that with careful planning and a dedicated team we can successfully deliver on a challenging programme of work. It also continues the high calibre of work delivered last year during the 18 weekends of closures at Ledburn Junction by the same team and sets the standard for the nine day closure at Bourne End in August, when we will install the remaining six sets of crossovers.’ During the Easter works, train operating company staff also pulled out the stops to ensure passenger disruption was kept to a minimum, with travellers transferred onto special coaches between Hemel Hempstead and Milton Keynes. EDITORS NOTES ·        During the works, the fast lines were actually closed from 21.30 on Thursday 17th April until 03.00 on Tuesday 22nd April 2003, whilst the slow lines were closed from 03.00 0n Friday 18th April until 03.00 on Tuesday 22nd April 2003. ·        150 staff were on site during the project, including: 24 machine operators 56 P-way staff 15 Signalling testers 20 OLE engineers 13 supervisors various 9 site wardens 4 Network Rail managers 3 construction assurance staff 5 project management staff 1 communications manager

• The remaining six sets of crossovers at Bourne End will be installed from 23rd August to 1st September 2003
• Commissioning at Bourne End will take place during Easter 2004