Network Rail set to reach major milestone of £116m reliability-boosting resignalling scheme with engineering work continuing this weekend in south west London: Windsor resignalling 2 (1)

Thursday 17 Aug 2023

Network Rail set to reach major milestone of £116m reliability-boosting resignalling scheme with engineering work continuing this weekend in south west London

Region & Route:
Southern
| Southern: Wessex

From Saturday 19 August to Friday 1 September, buses will replace South Western Railway (SWR) trains during a three-part closure of the railway between Barnes and Virginia Water, Windsor & Eton Riverside and Hounslow, to allow the newly installed signals to be switched on.

Starting this Saturday (19 August), Network Rail’s team of engineers will work around the clock for 14 consecutive days to switch on the 116 new state of the art digital signals – the railway’s traffic light system – installed across parts of the railway in south west London and Berkshire and finish upgrading seven level crossings during this multistage closure.

The existing system is controlled by the Feltham Area Signalling Centre and the current signals and track circuits – which tell signallers where trains are on the network – date back to 1974 and need upgrading as they have become less reliable and harder to maintain.

Following the switching on of the newly installed signals, passengers will benefit from more reliable journeys and fewer delays on the Windsor Lines which are a key route for commuters in and out of London.

Control of this part of the railway will be moved to the Basingstoke Rail Operating Centre, a purpose-built rail hub that is shared with SWR.

A four-year upgrade to improve reliability

Over the past four years, as part of the wider Feltham and Wokingham re-signalling programme, Network Rail’s engineers have installed 116 digital signals, 11km of new cabling housed in 14km of refurbished cable ducts, 27 new under-track cable routes to support the new technology, and upgraded seven level crossings.

The Feltham and Wokingham re-signalling programme will be concluded in early 2024 with the completion of upgrades to key signalling equipment controlled by the Feltham Area Signalling Centre and Wokingham Signal Box, which jointly cover 80 miles of railway and 500 separate pieces of signalling equipment. A total of 13 level crossings will also have been renewed or upgraded, all with the aim of improving train performance and ensuring passengers enjoy more reliable journeys.

Changes to train services

The work this August is being undertaken in three parts with the following stretches of the railway closed:

  • Saturday 19 to Sunday 20 August inclusive – Staines to Virginia Water
  • Monday 21 to Saturday 26 August inclusive – Staines to Windsor & Eton Riverside
  • Sunday 27 August to Friday 1 September inclusive – Barnes to Virginia Water/ Windsor & Eton Riverside and Hounslow

Passengers are advised to check before they travel using journey planners, which are now up to date.

Mark Killick, Network Rail’s Wessex route director, said: “At the end of this month we will reach a significant milestone of our wider Feltham and Wokingham resignalling programme with the switching on of the new signals on the Windsor Lines.

“Our engineers will be working tirelessly over this forthcoming 14-day period to commission the new signals, which we know will help improve reliability and reduce the likelihood of delays on this important stretch of railway.

“I’d like to say sorry in advance to any customers impacted by this work and thank them for their patience and understanding during this time.”

Peter Williams, South Western Railway's customer and commercial director, said: “We strongly advise our customers to check journey planners carefully before travelling, as there are three stages to this closure involving different sections of the line, and journeys using rail replacement bus and amended train services may take longer than usual.

“I’d like to thank customers for their continued patience as Network Rail carries out this important programme of upgrades on a very busy part of our network.”

Notes to Editors

The following level crossings will be closed while their upgrades are completed:

  • Mays Road – 5-day closure from 2100 Sunday 20 August to 0600 Saturday 26 August
  • Datchett Road– Overnight closure from 2000 Sunday 27 August to 0600 Monday 28 August and a 4-day closure from 2100 Monday 28 August to 2100 Friday 1 September
  • Wood Lane – 6-day closure from 0130 Sunday 27 August to 0600 Saturday 2 September
  • Grove Park – Overnight closure from 2200 Sunday 27 to 0600 Monday 28 August and overnight Monday 28 August to 0600 Tuesday 29 August
  • Egham – 10-day closure from 0100 Saturday 19 to 2000 Saturday 29 August
  • Thorpe Lane – Overnight closure from 2200 Monday 28 to 0600 Tuesday 29 August
  • Pooley Green – 2100 Tuesday 29 to 0600 Wednesday 30 August

During this time step free travel arrangements will be available at each closed level crossing.

Contact information

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

Latest travel advice
Please visit National Rail Enquiries

Journalists
Tala Ghannam
Media Relations Manager (Campaigns) - National
Network Rail
07548 108907
tala.ghannam2@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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