Wednesday 3 Mar 2004
MAKING THE MOST OF OUR TIME ON TRACK
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Southern
Time on the track when trains are not running is precious and Network Rail is taking advantage of this Sunday’s closure by carrying out as many different work items as possible on and around the railway between Ely and Cambridge.
Engineers will be in a number of locations. At Dimmocks Cote Level Crossing near Stretham, we are closing the level crossing to road users while engineers lift the track and work on the foundations. This preparation work will enable us to install a new crossing surface the following weekend. A lot of heavy vehicles pass over this crossing and we want to make sure that the railway is not damaged as a result.
Signalling engineers will be working on the system that controls the signals in the area. The existing wiring is around 20 years old. It is not life-expired yet, but we are proactively rewiring a relay room in Chesterton to improve the wiring before problems do occur.
Vegetation management is another job that we can undertake during this closure. We regularly inspect our overhead lines and take note of any branches that are growing close to the wires. This Sunday we will undertake work on a section of the line near Waterbeach to protect this vital equipment.
The track between West River bridge and Ely will be tamped. This is an engineering process carried out by a large on track machine, which lifts the track and improves the foundations and ballast underneath it.
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The track is then put back down and aligned by a special on-board computer, which ensures the top of the rail is level. Tamping improves the ride quality for passengers and extends the life of the track.
Jon Wiseman, Network Rail General Manager said: “Network Rail is committed to rebuilding the railway and proactively managing our assets. Our front line staff are targeting parts of the infrastructure and improving them to ensure that we can deliver a better service for our customers and the passenger.”
On Sunday 7 March, buses will replace trains between Cambridge and Ely. For travel information, contact National Rail Enquiries on 08457 48 49 50 or
www.angliarailways.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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Visit our online newsroom: www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk
