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Thursday 17 Dec 2015

Christmas is coming and so is Network Rail’s railway upgrade work at London Bridge

Region & Route:

| Southern

With just over a week to go until Christmas, Network Rail’s orange army are preparing for one of their busiest festive periods so far.

With just over a week to go until Christmas, Network Rail’s orange army are preparing for one of their busiest festive periods so far.

More than 20,000 people will be working on the Railway Upgrade Plan this Christmas – and many of them will be picking up their tools for the government-sponsored Thameslink Programme at London Bridge.

Major improvements being carried out around the station will affect journeys over the festive period, from the afternoon of Christmas Eve until the night of Sunday, January 3. Passengers are being urged to make sure they leave London in plenty of time to avoid missing the last train home.

The work by Network Rail as part of its Railway Upgrade Plan means that there will be no Southeastern trains at London Bridge, Charing Cross, Waterloo East and Cannon Street over the period, including three working days. Passengers will still be able to reach London with services diverted to Victoria and Blackfriars, or terminating at New Cross for London Overground connections. In addition, stations between Deptford and Westcombe Park, including Greenwich, will be closed and trains replaced by buses. Tickets will be accepted on alternative routes.

Southern and Thameslink trains from London Bridge will not be affected.

Thameslink Programme director Simon Blanchflower said: “Our team of engineers at London Bridge will be ready to go as soon as the last trains leave London on Christmas Eve and we are encouraging passengers to make sure they leave plenty of time to get away.

“A huge amount of planning has gone into our Christmas work so we can give passengers back a more reliable and modern railway on January 4, including the first trains across the new Borough Viaduct.

“We realise that our work will impact a large number of people over the festive period, and we are grateful for their ongoing patience.  With fewer passengers travelling than at other times, this gives us the best opportunity to do this major work.”

Southeastern’s managing director David Statham said: “Network Rail will be carrying out this major and important work over the festive period to improve rail infrastructure and passengers' journeys.

"Prior to the work starting, we shall be finishing our services out of London slightly earlier on Christmas Eve as we will be moving our peak time services to between 1pm and 4 pm. That is when the vast majority of our passengers will be heading home from work to be with their families, as they do each year. I would urge our passengers to please check Christmas Eve train times before they travel."

The work, which will be completed in time for trains to resume on Monday, 4 January 2016, is part of the scheme to rebuild London Bridge station and the surrounding railway to give passengers across the south east more trains to more destinations, more reliably.

It includes the opening of the new Borough Viaduct to trains so work can begin to rebuild the tracks currently used by trains travelling between London Bridge and Charing Cross.

Southeastern’s High Speed trains will continue to run to and from St Pancras International throughout the period, apart from Christmas Day itself and will run a special service on Boxing Day between Ashford International and St Pancras International.

Passengers are encouraged to check with www.nationalrail.co.uk or at www.southeasternrailway.co.uk before they travel.

NOTES

In addition to the work at London Bridge, a major project to rebuild the railway near Croydon will be taking place at Christmas. This will mean there will be significant changes to Southern and Thameslink services and Gatwick Express services will not be running. There will be no trains between South Croydon and Redhill between late evening on Christmas Eve and 3 January 2016. There will be some diverted train services and bus replacements to help passengers complete their journeys. Passengers from Kent travelling to Gatwick Airport and other parts of Sussex will be able to take trains via Tonbridge and Redhill, but are advised to leave extra time for their journeys.

About the Thameslink Programme
The Thameslink Programme will transform north-south travel through London. When complete in 2018 it will give passengers:
New spacious trains running every 2 to 3 minutes through central London in the peak
Improved connections and better options to more destinations on an expanded Thameslink network including Cambridge and Peterborough
Robust new track and signalling systems offer more reliable journeys
A completely rebuilt London Bridge station with more space and great facilities
New routes the trains will run along include the Great Northern routes to Cambridge and Peterborough, the route to Sevenoaks via Elephant and Castle and new destinations including Littlehampton, Horsham, East Grinstead and Maidstone East.

From 2018, once all the trains are delivered and the new station built at London Bridge, the trains will run every 2-3 minutes in each direction across central London in the peak, providing a north-south metro-like service that intersects with east-west Crossrail at Farringdon and Eurostar at St Pancras International. Cambridge passengers will have direct services to Gatwick taking just 1 hour 40 minutes – up to half an hour quicker than today.

Find out more at www.ThameslinkProgramme.co.uk Follow @TLProgramme