Media centre

Wednesday 28 May 2008

NETWORK RAIL ACCELERATES CABLE REPLACEMENT ON WEST COAST

Region & Route:

National

Almost 14 miles of old signalling power cable is to be replaced in just the next ten weeks as an accelerated programme of renewal gets underway in the Milton Keynes and Bletchley areas on the West Coast Main Line.

As some of the cable is coming up to 40 years old, its renewal had always formed part of the project, but a number of recent signalling power failures in the Bletchley area have been traced to this cabling and an accelerated programme, focussing on the most susceptible cable, was devised.

In total almost £3m will be spent at six locations along the route on replacing 60 miles of this 650v cable, which supplies power to the signalling system and is essential for delivering a reliable train service. The scheme will be completed before the end of the year as part of the ongoing West Coast project.

Peter Strachan, Route Director, said: "We have acted speedily on our analysis of signalling power cable problems in this area and we are now implementing an accelerated programme to put in new and reliable replacements.

"In a very short period of time, passengers and freight users will reap the benefits of this investment through more reliable journeys across the route."

Chris Gibb, Virgin Trains Chief Operating Officer, said: "Whilst this has caused our customers considerable inconvenience, we are pleased that Network Rail has grabbed hold of the issue quickly and look forward to a significant improvement in performance"

The £600k accelerated programme in the Bletchley / Milton Keynes area got underway over the bank holiday weekend with two miles of old cable being torn out and replaced with new.

All the cable will be clearly tagged to deter metal thieves. Network Rail has been working closely with the British Transport Police to target the thieves and prevent thefts. Measures include increased security patrols, improved fencing, high tech security measures and training Network Rail staff in forensic techniques to improve conviction rates.