MERSEYRAIL RENEWALS COMPLETED

Friday 24 Mar 2006

MERSEYRAIL RENEWALS COMPLETED

Region & Route:

Passengers using the Northern line between Seaforth and Bootle New Strand will benefit from smoother and quieter journeys now the track has been upgraded during a £1.5 million scheme by Network Rail. The scheme to install ‘continuously welded track’ ends the familiar ‘clackety-clack’ noise on the existing track. The project was completed on time and on budget despite the extreme weather conditions that disrupted the region last week. Andrew Skidmore, Area General Manager (Liverpool and North Wales) said: “Network Rail has demonstrated a continued commitment to the Merseyrail network this year and this is just one of several schemes we are carrying out on Merseyside during 2006. “It is a testimony to the dedication and skill of Network Rail staff that we were still able to complete the work on time despite being severely disrupted by the extreme weather conditions.” During the work:

3,608 yards of track was laid
1,400 sleepers were replaced
2,850 tonnes of ballast was replaced

Contact information

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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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