Media centre

Friday 19 Mar 2004

EASTER ENGINEERING WORK - THE REBUILDING OF THE RAILWAY CONTINUES -

Region & Route:

| Southern

Network Rail today announced the main engineering work to take place over the Easter period. The work has been specifically programmed to ensure that peak commuter travel periods remain unaffected when, on average, twice as many people use the trains even compared to peak holiday travel time.  Where it has been necessary to carry out work over the entire holiday period, this has been planned well in advance to give train operating companies adequate time to plan alternative travel arrangements and inform passengers. Robin Gisby, Regional Director, Network Rail said, “Network Rail endeavours to maximise all of its opportunities to get access to the infrastructure. The holiday period is a good example of this and while most of us will be enjoying the break with our families thousands of rail staff will be hard at work undertaking some massive engineering projects that will help to deliver a better performing railway.”             Extensive engineering work at Clapham Junction will see the rebuilding of a 100 year old rail bridge that carries main line services into London Waterloo from the South Coast. Work will begin in the early hours of Friday 9 April and rail staff will work around the clock to restore normal service for the morning of Tuesday 13 April.  Two of Britain’s largest rail cranes will remove the existing Victorian, steel girded bridge and swing in ten new prefabricated steel composite bridge decks. This £3.5m project will deliver a new structure with a life in excess of 100 years and will provide a more reliable railway on one of the busiest routes into the capital. Network Rail will be taking advantage of the work to carry extensive track renewals on line from Clapham Junction to London Waterloo at the same time. Passengers can expect a smoother, quieter and more reliable journey. The engineering work will affect some services in and out of London Waterloo over the Easter weekend from Friday 9 April to Monday 12 April. Full alternative travel arrangements can be obtain by either calling National Rail Enquiries (08457 48 49 50) or logging on to www.nationalrail.co.uk The following routes will be affected: ·        South West Trains services from Southampton and Portsmouth will be reduced to two trains per hour. ·        South West Trains suburban services will divert via East Putney at a reduced level, Hampton Court is served by services from Surbiton, Chessington services start from Wimbledon and Dorking services will not operate. ·        Bus services will operate between Clapham Junction and Wimbledon, serving Earlsfield and stations between and Surbiton and Effingham Junction, serving all intermediate stations. ·        Services are reduced on the Windsor line.  A bus service operates between Barnes and Twickenham, via Hounslow serving all stations on the Hounslow loop. ·        On Easter Sunday only, services from Waterloo to Salisbury and the South West will start from Basingstoke. Passengers will need to take an alternative service to Basingstoke from Waterloo and change. A reduced service between Waterloo and Salisbury will operate on the other days. ·        There will be a number of changes to South Central Trains services into London Victoria. These include a replacement service during the weekend in the South London Metro area. ·        On Saturday 10 April some South Central services from the South Coast will have journeys terminated short of their London destination, with passengers having to make onward connections.  ·        On Saturday 10 April services between Watford Junction and Brighton will terminate at Clapham Junction. Mr Gisby continued, “ Network Rail is committed to investing time and money in improving the safety and performance of the railway. Passengers will benefit from this large programme of work as it will lead to a more reliable railway.”