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Wednesday 29 Apr 2009

NETWORK RAIL - MAY IMPROVEMENT PROGRAMME (LONDON)

Region & Route:

| Southern

Following the successful delivery of rail improvements around Britain at Easter, Network Rail will again work around the clock over the bank holiday weekends (2-4 and 23-25) in May to invest a further £90m in Britain’s railway.

The improvements are just part of the £35bn that will be invested in the railways in the next five years and will see around 4,500 people work a total 300,000 hours over the two long weekends.

Significant work in and around the capital over the May bank holiday will include:

• Platform extension work at Mill Hill, Elstree and West Hampstead, part of the £5.5bn Thameslink programme to enable more passengers to travel to and through the heart of London
• Improvements to the overhead power lines on the tracks out of London Liverpool Street station which will make services to Essex and East Anglia more reliable
• Renewal of outdated signalling equipment and installation of a new control system on the Colchester-Clacton branch line, improving reliability and increasing performance of train services
• Platform extension work at Crystal Palace, part of the project to re-model the station to become a terminus for the extended East London Line
• Renewal of track and points at Cambria Junction on the Catford loop which will result in better reliability and a smoother ride for passengers

Iain Coucher, Network Rail’s chief executive said:

“Our investment of £35bn in Britain’s rail network means passengers will enjoy even more reliable, frequent and comfortable journeys in the future. To make this a reality our engineers will be working day and night across the country over the two bank holiday weekends this May.

“Fewer people travel at bank holidays, so this is the best time for us to do our work. To reduce the impact on passengers, we have been working with our rail industry partners to keep the vast majority of services running over the bank holiday weekends. There will be 2,000 more trains running over the two bank holiday weekends this May than in 2008.”

Although most of the network is open as usual, Network Rail advises travellers to plan their journeys in advance. Passengers can check before they travel with National Rail enquiries on 08457 48 49 50 or at www.nationalrail.co.uk/holidays .