Tuesday 25 Oct 2005

OVER £1 MILLION IS INVESTED ON MERSEYRAIL LINE

Region & Route:
Essential track renewal work is taking place on the Liverpool Central to Southport line at Blundellsands. Andrew Skidmore, General Manager (Liverpool) said: “This £1 million scheme will have advantages for both passengers and local residents. Network Rail is replacing a significant section of track with continuously welded rail, which will provide smoother and quieter journeys.” The work is being carried out over weekends between October and mid November with a final weekend blockade to be carried out from January 16-17 2006. A rail replacement service will be operating between Sandhills station and Formby during each blockade. During the project:
  • 1, 644 yards of track will be replaced with continuously welded rail
  • 4, 500 tonnes of ballast will be replaced
  • 2, 300 sleepers will also be replaced
  Mr Skidmore added: “This is a significant project and the third renewals scheme to be carried out on the Merseyrail network since the summer, demonstrating our continued commitment to rail travel on Merseyside.” For information about rail replacement services please call National Rail Enquiries on 08457 484950 or log on to www.nationalrail.co.uk

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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.

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