Media centre

Tuesday 17 May 2016

Investment in bigger, better railway continues over spring bank holiday weekend

Region & Route:

| Eastern: Anglia

| Eastern

| Southern

Rail passengers in Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex can look forward to better journeys as Network Rail’s work to improve and upgrade the railway continues over the spring bank holiday weekend (28-30 May).

Over 9,000 members of Network Rail’s orange army will be working round-the-clock over the long weekend to deliver vital elements of the company’s Railway Upgrade Plan, which will provide a bigger, better, more reliable railway for passengers and businesses across Britain.

Work will take place at Brentwood to replace 1200m of wire which will not sag in the heat of summer and will improve reliability on the line all year round. To prepare for overhead line replacement along the line that runs from London Liverpool Street to Southend Victoria, a total of 46 new masts will be put in place.

Additionally, 550m of track will be replaced at Brentwood which will improve reliability and result in smoother journeys for passengers travelling to and from London, as well as reducing maintenance time, which means less disruption for passengers in the future. A further 420m of rail will be replaced between London Liverpool Street and Bethnal Green.

Construction work to prepare for Elizabeth line services will also continue on the line from Brentwood to Liverpool Street. As part of these works, the old footbridge will be removed from Harold Wood station and at Shenfield, there will be significant works to the track sidings and overhead line structures.

Across the country, a total of £30m will be invested over three days to renew track, upgrade signalling systems and help boost the capacity of the network so more trains can run in future. The work has been planned to minimise disruption, as passenger numbers typically drop by more than half during a bank holiday. The overwhelming majority of journeys will run as normal and the work on this route will only take place on Sunday and Monday, meaning that trains services will run as normal on Saturday.

Richard Schofield, Network Rail’s route managing director for Anglia, said: "Our work to build a bigger, better railway takes place round-the-clock, each and every day of the year. We’ve been careful to plan our work this bank holiday weekend to keep disruption to a minimum.

“Network Rail’s orange army will be working hard this bank holiday weekend to improve the railway in Anglia as part of our Railway Upgrade Plan which will provide better, more reliable journeys for passengers as well as carrying out Crossrail construction work to prepare for the arrival of Elizabeth Line services.

“Passengers have been shown themselves to be incredibly understanding while we invest heavily to improve our railway and I’d like to thank them in advance for their patience and support.”

Jenny Outten, principal contractor manager at Network Rail, said: “We do our work at bank holidays and extended holiday periods because fewer people are travelling on the railway. It’s the best time for us to get in there – we get more time to carry out the work and it’s less disruptive to the public.

“What we’re doing will make people’s lives better in the long run. We’re upgrading the existing railway, bringing it into the twenty-first century so we’ll have more capacity and more reliable services.”

This type of work can only be carried out when the railway is closed, and passengers are reminded to check before they travel over the Bank Holiday weekend. More information about the works across the country can be found on Twitter as they progress, using #SpringBHWorks

ENDS

Notes to editors:

The Railway Upgrade Plan is Network Rail’s investment programme for Britain’s railways and is part of our £40bn spending programme for the five-year period up to 31 March 2019. The plan is designed to provide more capacity, relieve crowding and respond to tremendous growth the railways have seen – a doubling of passengers in the past twenty years. The plan will deliver a bigger, better railway with more trains, longer trains, faster trains with more infrastructure, more reliable infrastructure and better facilities for passengers, especially at stations

Although the vast majority of the network will be unaffected by planned improvement work, passengers are advised to check their journeys if travelling over the bank holiday at nationalrail.co.uk

Twitter #SpringBHWorks

Continuation of Network Rail’s work to transform the existing tracks, infrastructure and stations in outer London, Berkshire and Essex as part of the Crossrail project.

• This includes work on overhead lines to increase reliability for the new quieter, greener electric trains to run on the TfL Rail route that will become the Elizabeth line. There will also be station upgrades including platform extensions to accommodate the new longer trains and preparatory work for lift shafts that will enable the stations to be step-free.
• There will also be no TfL Rail service on the entire line on Sunday 29 and Monday 30 May

Replacement buses will operate, calling additionally at Newbury Park station for the Central line.

• Abellio Greater Anglia services between London Liverpool Street and Shenfield will be amended on Sunday 29 and Monday 30 May, with rail replacement buses for some journeys.