Media centre

Tuesday 3 Apr 2018

Bumper package of rail upgrades completed this Easter on the main line from Norwich to London

Region & Route:

Eastern: Anglia

| Eastern

Network Rail completed major rail upgrades over the Easter break which will deliver huge improvements to passengers from Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex.

Network Rail’s Team Orange worked the equivalent of 13,000 hours to carry out improvements between Gidea Park and Forest Gate as part of the company’s Railway Upgrade Plan:

• Nearly 5km of new overhead wire was installed at Ilford as part of a £249m project to install a new wiring system that automatically adapts to temperature changes to reduce delays and improve reliability
• New structures that will carry new overhead wires were installed at Forest Gate
• In one of the largest engineering projects in the country, nine switches and crossings units and four fixed pieces of track were installed at Gidea Park. These allow trains cross over smoothly between tracks to improve operational flexibility and reliability
• Crossrail works were completed in the run up to completion of the eastern section of the Elizabeth line by the end of the year

These improvements will last for decades to come and help to provide a more reliable service to the growing numbers of passengers using the busy mainline.

Meliha Duymaz, Network Rail’s route managing director for Anglia, said: “Our engineers successfully carried out crucial upgrades over Easter which will significantly improve journeys to the capital from Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex. This work is important to support the growth in passenger numbers and to improve reliability on the busy main line as part of our Railway Upgrade Plan. I’d like to thank passengers for their patience while we carried out this work.”

Jamie Burles, Greater Anglia managing director, said: “We’d like to thank customers for their patience during this period of engineering works, when they had to complete their journeys by bus. Together with Network Rail, we’re transforming the railway in East Anglia – they are making significant improvements to track, overhead lines and signals, and we are replacing all of our trains with brand new trains. We appreciate it’s frustrating for customers while the transformation takes place but the railway will soon be fit for future generations.”

Further upgrades will take place throughout April affecting the Clacton on Sea / Walton on the Naze branch line and the Southend Victoria branch line.

Passengers are advised to check before they travel at www.nationalrail.co.uk