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Wednesday 27 Feb 2008

NETWORK RAIL ANNOUNCES EASTER IMPROVEMENT PROGRAMME

Region & Route:

National

Network Rail has announced that improvements will be delivered across the country this Easter with 29km of track laid, new signalling and points, and the replacement of a 50m viaduct on the Cumbria Coast. This investment, totalling £75m, will lead to a more reliable, better performing railway, and a better service for passengers. For more details on Network Rail's major Easter works visit www.networkrail.co.uk Iain Coucher, Network Rail Chief Executive said: "In just four days over Easter Network Rail will deliver 300,000 hours of improvement work across the country. Around 6,000 engineers will be working day and night to meet demands for a better railway from the travelling public.

"Following the New Year, we have listened to passengers and those who represent them and now our planning and preparation is more robust than ever. Each project is an immense engineering challenge in its own right, and Network Rail is absolutely determined to deliver a safe and reliable railway back to passengers and freight users at the promised time. "Because of the volume of work this Easter, we're advising people to double check their travel plans. We'll be working closely with the train operating companies and National Rail Enquiries to make sure that the very latest information is available." IMPROVED PLANNING AND PREPARATION Network Rail is working closely with train operators, Passenger Focus and other partners in the rail industry to get up to date information to passengers before they travel. Travel information for Easter has been available from National Rail Enquiries for several weeks. In January Network Rail committed to setting up military-style command centres for major works. This new structure was used for the first time this month on a ten day project at Leamington in the Midlands. This £75 million track and signalling project was delivered on time. Over recent weeks, Network Rail has been consulting within the rail industry on the best way to deliver significantly more trains on the West Coast without unplanned disruption for passengers. The company is planning to deliver a £750m programme of investment in just nine months.