Drop-in session for residents to find out more about Challow Road bridge reconstruction

Tuesday 17 Jun 2014

Drop-in session for residents to find out more about Challow Road bridge reconstruction

Region & Route:: | Southern: Wessex; | Southern

Members of the public are invited to attend an event to find out more about the construction work and road diversion required to rebuild the Challow Road bridge (A417).

Network Rail is reconstructing the bridge as part of a major scheme to electrify the railway between London and Bristol including Newbury and Oxford by 2016 and Cardiff by 2017, to provide more reliable, more frequent journeys for passengers. Work will be carried out from September to December 2014.

Network Rail staff will be on hand to answer questions on Thursday June 26 between 4pm and 7pm at the The Corn Exchange, Cornmarket, Faringdon, Oxfordshire, SN7 7JA.

Nigel Fenn, senior programme manager for Network Rail, said: "Electrification will bring huge benefits to the region but we recognise that some of the work will cause disruption to those who live or work near the railway.

“We thank people in advance for their patience as we continue our plans to build a better railway for the Thames Valley and the south west. This is an exciting time for the Great Western main line as we upgrade and electrify the route to transform our diesel railway into one of the most modern in Europe, providing more seats, and cleaner and quieter trains.”

Notes to editors

1. Network Rail will notify residents and will be working with the local authority to raise awareness of diversionary routes. Residents and businesses are encouraged to contact Network Rail’s 24 hour helpline on 08457 11 41 41 if they have any questions. Alternatively, they can visit our website on http://www.networkrail.co.uk/great-western-electrification/oxfordshire/ or our Facebook page

2. The A417 Challow Road bridge improvements will not coincide with the local authority’s planned road closure for highway works at A420 Shrivenham.

3. A second drop-in-session will be held with details to be released as soon as they are confirmed.

Benefits of electrification:

Longer, faster trains: A new fleet of trains will transform travel on the Great Western by providing faster, longer and more frequent trains for intercity journeys. These services will run on the newly electrified railway and support the move to a greener, cleaner and more efficient rail network.
More seats: The new electric trains will have 20% more seats compared to diesel trains.
Electric trains are cheaper to operate than diesels. They require less maintenance and have lower energy costs. They are also lighter and do less damage to the track helping create a more reliable railway for passengers.
Stimulating economic growth: Electrification will stimulate economic growth across the region by improving connections between towns and cities.

Contact information

Passengers / community members
Network Rail national helpline
03457 11 41 41

Latest travel advice
Please visit National Rail Enquiries

Journalists
Network Rail press office - South East route
020 3357 7969
southeastroutecomms@networkrail.co.uk

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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