Media centre

Tuesday 31 Mar 2015

Network Rail to live tweet the progress over Easter of its biggest package of improvement work on the Western route

Region & Route:

| Southern

Network Rail will be tweeting images and updates live from Reading station over Easter as the ‘orange army’ completes its biggest package of improvement work on the Western route to date.

The work at Reading involves installing new freight lines under the viaduct to completely separate passenger and freight services, enabling all those travelling on this route to experience smoother, faster journeys into and through Reading. This work is the penultimate phase of the Reading redevelopment project which is currently a year ahead of schedule.

In addition, a major re-signalling project will be undertaken at Slough that involves replacing ageing signalling equipment with new ‘state of the art’ technology that will improve reliability for passengers travelling on the route to London Paddington from the west, south west and Thames Valley.

Patrick Hallgate, Network Rail’s managing director for the Western route, said: “This is our most ambitious package of improvement work to date and with 1,200 engineers working 97,000 hours over Easter, we definitely have a story to tell.”

To complete these major projects in as short a timescale as possible, there will be timetable changes and in some cases replacement bus services running on parts of the Thames Valley network over the Easter period. Passengers are therefore advised to check rail websites for travel information if their journeys involve passing through this area.

Patrick concluded: “We are acutely aware that some of our work could inconvenience those who want to travel over the Easter period, which is why we want to be open and provide the public with live information about how we are using this time to make improvements to this part of the network.

“Once completed, this package of work will deliver immediate benefits for the many thousands of passengers who travel through the Thames Valley and into London. These include reduced journey times, greater reliability and ultimately a better travelling experience.”

Anyone who wishes to follow the progress of the improvement work can do so by following the Twitter account @networkrailgwrm and the hashtag #greaterwest. Tweets about the work will start on the morning of Friday 3 April.

ENDS

Notes to editors

Further travel information for over the Easter period can be found by visiting National Rail Enquiries’ website www.nationalrail.co.uk. Alternatively, train operator First Great Western also has up–to-date travel advice on their website www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk.