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Monday 7 Aug 2023

Passengers thanked after Coventry to Banbury railway upgrades

Region & Route:

North West & Central

| North West & Central: Central

Major railway upgrades to improve future journeys for passengers and freight between Coventry and Banbury are now complete.

The railway reopened today (Monday 7 August) after essential improvements to the important railway corridor through the West Midlands.

Over the last nine days hundreds of engineers have worked on several schemes on the Coventry and Leamington Spa line and between Heyford and Oxford.

One of the largest jobs saw Network Rail invest £11m to strengthen a Victorian-built railway viaduct which carries trains over the River Avon near Leamington Spa.

Specialist roped access teams upgraded the 179-year-old structure by replacing damaged and missing bricks, repointing the mortar and strengthening its nine arches.

Additional essential upgrade work over the nine days included:

• A £1.3m investment to build 2.2 miles of new track in Banbury to improve journey reliability
• A major railway resignalling scheme around Oxford to prepare for East West Rail
• A 47-metre-long bridge being installed in Kenilworth so tracks for HS2 can be built underneath the existing rail route

Denise Wetton, Network Rail Central route director, said: “We know this work has meant longer journeys for some passengers travelling over the school summer holidays, so I’d like to thank everyone impacted for bearing with us while we carried out these essential upgrades.

“We worked closely with train operators to keep people on the move, and now work is complete this vital section of railway through the West Midlands will continue to deliver safe, reliable journeys for passenger and freight services.”

Huw Margetts, CrossCountry’s regional director for Wales and West, said: “I’d like to thank passengers for their patience while engineering work was carried out between Coventry, Leamington Spa and Didcot Parkway.

“Though we always aim to keep travel disruption to a minimum while engineering work takes place, the vital upgrades on this line will mean smoother, more reliable journeys for CrossCountry passengers in the future.”

Jacqueline Dey, Chiltern Railways operations director, said: "We know that these vital engineering works, alongside industrial action, have meant replacement bus services, longer journeys and busier trains throughout last week for many of our customers.

"We would like to thank customers for their patience and understanding while these essential upgrades have taken place, which include a £1m investment in track renewal along the Chiltern mainline to improve reliability on our route."

For latest travel advice and information about strike action visit www.nationalrail.co.uk.