Monday 17 Jan 2005
INVESTMENT IN EAST COAST MAIN LINE AT BIGGLESWADE
- Region & Route:
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Eastern: Anglia
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Eastern
Rail travellers using the East Coast Main Line through Biggleswade are to benefit from a £4.1 million programme of track improvements.
Weekend work to renew vital elements of the track formation started on Saturday 8 January and will continue over the next two weekends to Sunday 30 January. During these periods of work, the railway will be closed between Stevenage and Peterborough, with replacement bus services in operation.
Dyan Crowther, Network Rail Route Director, said: “The East Coast Main Line is a vital high speed link between London and the North, and is heavily used by both long-distance and commuter travellers. This essential track improvement work will ensure the future reliability of the line for railway users and is part of our commitment to renew Britain’s railway.”
The programme of work will see three railway ‘crossovers’ replaced, the part of a railway track where a train can cross from one line to another. The existing crossovers have reached the end of their shelf life and need to be replaced.
Network Rail is also taking the opportunity to renew nearly 4500 yards of track at St Neots and Huntingdon, which will result in a smoother and more reliable ride for passengers.
Dyan Crowther continued: “We have worked closely with the train operators involved to ensure alternative travel arrangements are in place and to minimise disruption to passengers.”
Preparatory work for the project started in October 2004 and associated work will continue overnight (without disrupting trains) until March 2005.
Alternative travel information:
Saturday 23 – Sunday 23 January 2005 /
Saturday 29 – Sunday 30 January 2005
Engineering work will take place between Peterborough and Whittlesea, and between Peterborough and Sandy, affecting GNER, Central and ‘one’ trains services.
· Peterborough to Ipswich: bus replacement service between Peterborough and Whittlesea
· Liverpool Lime Street to Norwich: trains will start and terminate at Nottingham, bus replacement service between Nottingham and Norwich.
· Stansted Airport to Birmingham New Street: bus replacement service between Peterborough and Sandy
For further travel information or advice, please contact National Rail Enquiries on 08457 48 49 50 or at
www.nationalrail.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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