Media centre

Friday 19 Jun 2009

NO MOREBOTTLE NECK BETWEEN KETTERING AND HARROWDEN

Region & Route:

Network Rail is proud to announce the official opening of the new third line between Kettering and Harrowden junctions on the Midland Main Line today (Friday 19 June 2009). The £11.5m project which was completed during the May bank holiday will benefit thousands of Midlands’ passengers by improving train punctuality for the hundreds of trains that pass through the Kettering area on a daily basis.

Almost seven kilometres of new track has been laid between Kettering and Harrowden Junction, which lies just north of Wellingborough, to provide a third line on this section of the route. The project started in January 2009 and was completed over the May bank holiday weekend to time and within budget. The first train used the track in the early hours of Tuesday 26 May 2009.

Dyan Crowther, route director, said: “Projects like this are vital to increase capacity and improve the service we are able to offer to passengers and freight users. More and more people want to use our railways and continued targeted investment will contribute to the railway’s ongoing success.”

The bottleneck on this part of the route had become an increasing problem as more trains are using the route and freight traffic is growing; especially quarry traffic taking vital aggregates to east London for the Olympics 2012. This new track will relieve this congestion by significantly boosting capacity and enabling trains to pass through the area more quickly than before.

David Israel, Commercial Director, Freightliner Heavy Haul said

"We welcome any enhancements to the network that will aid the performance of our freight trains, especially in congested areas such as this. It is vital that we can have a seamless supply chain for the delivery of aggregates from the quarries into the Greater London conurbation for major projects such as the Olympics. As the main freight user on this route we welcome the improvements in capacity provided by this investment and look forward to the progression of similar schemes.”