Network Rail invites passengers to learn more about Vauxhall station improvements

Monday 13 Mar 2017

Network Rail invites passengers to learn more about Vauxhall station improvements

Region & Route:: Southern: Wessex; | Southern

Network Rail is inviting users of Vauxhall station to find out more about upcoming station upgrade work which will reduce congestion during peak periods and make it easier for passengers to board and alight trains.

Network Rail’s orange army will replace the current lift and construct a new staircase, in addition to the two staircases already available, on platform 7 & 8. The upgrades are part of the £800 million Waterloo & South West Upgrade that will see more trains and longer trains operating to and from Waterloo.

Network Rail is holding a drop-in session at Vauxhall station on Thursday, 16 March from 08:30 - 09:30 and from 16:30 - 18:30, and passengers are invited to stop by and find out details about how they may be impacted by the upgrades.

Becky Lumlock, route managing director at Network Rail, said: “Working closely with South West Trains, our Railway Upgrade Plan is going to deliver a better railway for the growing numbers of passengers by significantly increasing the capacity available on the railway to and from Waterloo.

“Passengers at Vauxhall station will directly benefit from better access at the station as we’ll be able to get more people on and off trains quickly. There will be some changes while we carry out the work but I encourage passengers to stop by on Thursday for the drop-in session to find out more about the scheme.”

Adam Piddington, customer service director for South West Trains, said: “These works will bring long-term improvements for our passengers.

“We would advise passengers to plan their journeys well ahead whilst the upgrade is taking place and to book assisted travel if this is needed. Our Assisted Travel team will ensure that passengers who need assistance are cared for and they are able to go about their journey with as little disruption as possible.”

To complete the work safely, Network Rail will temporarily close the lift to platforms 7 & 8 from 7 April 2017 to 8 May 2017 (inclusive) and from 5 August 2017 until early 2018. During these periods lifts to other station platforms will stay open. In addition, platforms 7 & 8 at Vauxhall station will be closed for several weekends in June and July 2017 and from 5 August to 28 August 2017 to allow upgrade work to take place.

While the work takes place, passengers who require step-free access to platforms will still be able to use platform 2 for services to London Waterloo and platform 3 for Clapham Junction, where they can change for the services they would usually get from Vauxhall.

Passengers can book assistance from South West Trains staff by contacting the Assisted Travel team 24 hours in advance of their journey via the website or by calling 0800 5282 100.

ENDS

Notes to Editors

NOTES TO EDITORS

Details of drop-in session:

Date: Thursday 16 March 2017
Time: 8.30-9.30am and 4.30-6.30pm
Location: Vauxhall station

Service changes:

Significantly fewer trains will call at Vauxhall station from 5 to the 28 August 2017 inclusive. Please see the South West Trains website for further information on services in August.

Platforms 7 & 8 at Vauxhall will also be closed throughout this period in August. As a result, there will be no South West Trains services from Vauxhall to:

Guildford (via Leatherhead or via Cobham & Stoke D’Abernon)
Hampton Court
Wimbledon
All stations to Woking

August 2017 – London Waterloo

During August, work will start to extend platforms 1-4 at London Waterloo, to allow longer 10-carriage trains to run on Suburban routes. Platforms have already been extended at more than 60 stations but London Waterloo is the final, and most complex, station which needs upgrading. Due to the layout of the track and the curve of the neighbouring platforms, to extend platforms 1-4, we also need to carry out the following works, which requires platforms 1-9 at Waterloo to be closed:

Install new track on the approaches to platforms 1-8.
Realign and rebuild the far ends of platforms 5-8.
Provide access for the required machinery to carry out the works.

There will still be some further work to carry out after August 2017, but this will be restricted to weekends. When completed, longer 10-carriage trains will be able to serve suburban routes when the new timetable is introduced from December 2017.

Passengers can check how they will be affected by visiting southwesttrains.co.uk/wswupgrade or by searching online for ‘Waterloo Upgrade’.

Contact information

Passengers / community members
Network Rail national helpline
03457 11 41 41

Latest travel advice
Please visit National Rail Enquiries

Journalists
Network Rail press office - Owen Johns
Media relations manager (Wessex route)
07710 959476
Owen.Johns@networkrail.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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