Monday 27 Nov 2006
CHRISTMAS BONUS FOR BITTERN LINE USERS
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Eastern: Anglia
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Eastern
Passengers will be smitten with the Bittern line this Christmas as Network Rail invests £4.5 million to completely renew the track between North Walsham and Sheringham, delivering smoother, quieter and more reliable journeys.
More than 7,000 yards of new track will be laid, improving journeys for the growing number of passengers using the line. The line between North Walsham and Sheringham will be closed from Saturday 2 to Saturday 16 December while work takes place. The closure will then shorten to between Cromer and Sheringham from Saturday 16 to Thursday 23 December allowing services to resume between Norwich and Cromer.
Network Rail’s Route Director Jon Wiseman said: “The Bittern Line Partnership has recently picked up an award for attracting a growing number of passengers to this line so this massive investment is further good news and will help us secure the long-term future of this important part of the railway. We will be working closely with ‘one’ to keep passengers on the move while these essential works are carried out.”
Bittern Line Partnership Chairman Peter Twiss said: “We fully support this work which will secure the future of the Bittern Line for many years to come. While we recognise that this work will cause some disruption, this is a huge investment that will benefit all passengers using the Bittern Line.”
Clive Morris, Business Director Rural for 'one' said: "This investment is a further major vote of confidence in the Bittern Line and will ensure more reliable journeys for our passengers in the future."
From Saturday 2 to Friday 15 December replacement buses will run between North Walsham and Sheringham, and from Saturday 16 until Friday 22 December buses will run between Cromer and Sheringham. Replacement buses will depart Sheringham earlier than currently timetabled – a detailed list of services is available from the 'one' railway website: www.onerailway.com or from National Rail Enquiries on 08457 48 49 50.
Replacement buses calling at Sheringham, North Walsham and West Runton will collect passengers from designated pick-up points away from the station. These will be clearly sign-posted.
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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