MINISTER LAUNCHES £400 MILLION RAILWAY INVESTMENT FOR SOUTH WALES RAIL PASSENGERS

Friday 23 Sep 2005

MINISTER LAUNCHES £400 MILLION RAILWAY INVESTMENT FOR SOUTH WALES RAIL PASSENGERS

Region & Route:: | Wales & Western: Wales & Borders; | Wales & Western

The Welsh Assembly Government Minister for Economic Development and Transport, Andrew Davies, today joined Network Rail in Port Talbot to officially launch the start of a £400 million investment programme to renew the signalling infrastructure across South Wales over the next decade. Mark Langman, Network Rail’s General Manager for Wales and the Marches, said: “This is the first major resignalling project in the area for many years and is also the forerunner for similar large-scale projects in England and Scotland, improving the reliability of the railway for passengers. “We are continuing with our commitment to improve the local railway in South Wales - not only have we recently completed the new Vale of Glamorgan line and extended platforms along the Aberdare line, but we will also be re-modelling Cardiff West Junction and working alongside Arriva Trains Wales on a major timetable expansion, over the next few months.” Equipment commissioned in the 1960s will be replaced with modern signalling technology, including new signals, signal structures, control systems and track circuits. Level crossings will also be upgraded across South Wales, along with improvements to the track layout. The programme, managed directly by Network Rail, commences today with the £60 million Port Talbot East Resignalling Project – a 22-mile stretch of line running from Llantrisant to Baglan. This will be followed by schemes at Newport (this will be carried out in two stages), Cardiff and Port Talbot West over the next ten years. Andrew Davies, Minister for Economic Development and Transport, said: "I'm pleased to be here today to mark the start of this substantial and important investment by Network Rail. The Welsh Assembly Government is committed to delivering quality rail services and developing the rail network in Wales and this investment will support those aims."

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