Media centre

Monday 16 Apr 2007

FIRST PHASE OF £130M BASINGSTOKE ENGINEERING PROJECT COMPLETED ON TIME

Region & Route:

| Southern: Wessex

| Southern

Network Rail announced the successful completion of the first phase of a major £130 million rail engineering project in Basingstoke over the Easter period. The railway was handed back as planned this morning so that normal train services could resume. The ambitious project, which will run until 2008, is the one of the biggest being undertaken by Network Rail in the country and will see hundreds of pieces of equipment being replaced including installing a completely new signalling system for the entire area. The first phase over Easter included the opening a state-of-the-art signalling control centre at Basingstoke station, the commissioning of the new signalling system in and around the station, and the remodelling of Great Western Junction (a key point on a busy section of railway just outside the station) which entailed the installation of 11 new sets of points, the arrangement of rails enabling a train to cross from one line to another. During 10 days over the Easter period, Network Rail employees and contractors worked 24 hours round the clock to ensure this important first phase of the project was completed to deadline. Over the 10 days, there were between 600-800 people onsite during any one shift, including over 100 people alone who tested the new signalling system to ensure it was fully operational. Two massive KIROW cranes weighing over 100 tonnes were used to lift track components into place and 19 engineering trains were in action to bring new track, ballast and sleepers to the site. It is estimated that Network Rail spent £500,000 for each day of the 10 day works over Easter. The Basingstoke project is part of Network Rail's £1.5bn nationwide investment in signalling over the next three years. The investment in signalling in the area will make the railway more reliable, resulting in fewer delays in the area. Improving the rail layout around Basingstoke station will not only ensure trains can run faster but also give more options to signalmen so they can divert trains to keep services running if there are problems on the line. Overall the project will see the replacement of more than 270 signalling units along an 80km stretch of track from Grateley to Farnborough and Mortimer to Litchfield Tunnel (north of Micheldever). Over 1,000km of cable will be used for the entire project, including 230km of copper and fibre cable alone for a new telecommunications system. David Pape, Network Rail's Wessex route director, said: "This investment will deliver significant long-term benefits for passengers. This is an important stretch of railway linking Southern and Western England with London and some of the equipment being replaced dates back to the late 1960s. This work is long overdue and whilst we appreciate that passengers were inconvenienced, we hope that they can now enjoy the long term benefits of this project in the form of fewer delays to their journeys."