Tuesday 30 Jul 2024
Major railway upgrades to improve passengers journeys in Leicester
- Region & Route:
- Eastern
- | Eastern: East Midlands
Network Rail is to carry out more than £5 million of major engineering work south of Leicester station which will improve reliability for passengers for years to come.
On Saturday 3 and Sunday 4 August, engineers will be replacing a key set of switches and crossings, the specialist equipment used by trains to change from one track to another, at Knighton Junction.
Due to its curved layout, Network Rail teams work at the site frequently to keep it safe for passengers and freight trains. However, alongside renewing this equipment, engineers have carried out strengthening measures to protect other components better, prolong their life, leading to smoother and more reliable journeys for passengers.
The junction is a key interchange for trains, carrying north to south journeys on the Midland Main Line, passengers travelling east to west from Anglia to Birmingham, and sees extensive usage by freight trains.
Some work on the £5.3m project has already been carried out with engineers working throughout the upcoming weekend to complete the upgrade.
At the same time, there is additional engineering work scheduled, as Network Rail teams work on the new overhead lines which have been installed and powered up between Kettering and Wigston.
The weekend engineering work means that there will be *some changes to train services through the area, with bus replacements in place.
Tara Scott, Infrastructure Director for Network Rail’s East Midlands route, said: “We constantly strive to improve our rail network and make journeys better for our passengers. The work we are carrying out at Knighton Junction is a major investment to make the rail network in that area more resilient and reliable.
“I know that carrying out engineering work can be disruptive for passengers and I want to thank passengers, in advance, for their patience and understanding while we carry out this work.
“I’d encourage all passengers to check their journeys before travelling at www.nationalrail.co.uk or through their train operator.”
To find out more about how we look after the railway, visit: https://www.networkrail.co.uk/running-the-railway/looking-after-the-railway/track/
Notes to Editors
Changes to services
Saturday 3 and Sunday 4 August: Midland Main Line is closed between Leicester and Kettering for switches and crossings and overhead line work. A reduced East Midlands Railway service will operate from Sheffield / Nottingham to London St Pancras and divert around the closure, in both directions.
Buses will replace trains for passengers travelling between Leicester, Market Harborough, and Kettering.
There will also be no CrossCountry services for passengers travelling between Nuneaton and Leicester. Buses will operate between Nuneaton, Hinckley, Narborough, South Wigston and Leicester where passengers can connect onto rail transport.
Contact information
Passengers / community members
Network Rail national helpline
03457 11 41 41
Latest travel advice
Please visit National Rail Enquiries
Journalists
Joshua Chapman
Media Relations Manager
Network Rail
joshua.chapman@networkrail.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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