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Tuesday 9 Jul 2024

Essential Bakerloo line and London Overground upgrades this summer

Region & Route:

North West & Central: West Coast Mainline South

Bakerloo line and London Overground passengers are being advised of essential railway upgrades which will impact journeys over six days in August.  

From Saturday 3 August to Thursday 8 August 2024, Network Rail engineers will carry out £2m worth of improvements to a 16 mile stretch of railway in north London.  

This closure is being used to upgrade life-expired equipment that is prone to failure. Completion of these critical works will improve the reliability of the railway for passengers. 

The improvements over the six days will include:  

• Renewal of the power system which supplies the signalling equipment along these lines. This includes 32.5km of new cabling along with a number of lineside power distribution cabinets.
• Upgrading 3km of conductor rail, which is the part of the track that provides power to trains via a steel rail.
• Renewal of the high voltage power system that provides power to the trains through the conductor rails. This includes replacing 3km of aging 11kv power cables.
• Upgrading track switches and crossings - these are moveable sections of track that guide trains from one track to another and allow them to cross paths.

Network Rail is making use of this six-day closure to complete a variety of different infrastructure upgrade projects to not only improve the efficient running of the railway but also to prevent future disruption.

This will affect the Bakerloo line between Queen’s Park and Harrow & Wealdstone stations and the London Overground between Euston and Watford Junction stations. 

With less than a month to go until the work starts, passengers are being advised to plan ahead by checking www.nationalrail.co.uk, tfl.gov.uk/bakerloo-overground or the Transport for London (TfL) Go app.  

From Saturday 3 August to Thursday 8 August, TfL customers affected by the upgrades can complete their journeys by using alternative rail lines, and existing or temporary bus routes*  

Gary Walsh, Network Rail’s West Coast South route director, said: “We know there’s never an ideal time to close the railway, but working on consecutive days means that we can keep the railway open as much as possible throughout the rest of the year. I’d like to thank passengers for their understanding and patience in advance while we carry out these significant improvements to the Bakerloo line and London Overground.  

“I appreciate that doing this essential work is disruptive for passengers so I’d urge people to keep in mind the line between Euston and Watford Junction will be closed and to check National Rail Enquiries and TfL for alternative public transport options in and out of London.”  

  

Alex Williams, Chief Customer and Strategy Officer at TfL, said: “We’re sorry for the disruption that Network Rail’s essential infrastructure upgrade work will cause to our customers’ journeys and are working closely with them to minimise the impact. Closures of this type enable work to be carried out which will make customer journeys more reliable in future and are scheduled to take place, where possible, in school holidays when demand on our network is significantly reduced.  

“We advise our customers to use TfL’s Journey Planner or the TfL Go app to plan their journeys in advance during this period.” 

Passengers are reminded to check www.nationalrail.co.uk for further updates on how railway upgrades could impact on journeys.