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Thursday 5 Apr 2018

Passengers thanked for their patience as £45m signalling scheme in South West London is completed on time over Easter

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Rail passengers in the Sutton, Wimbledon and Mitcham areas can look forward to more reliable journeys after a five-year project to improve their railway was completed over Easter.

The £45m scheme replaced every single signal – the railway’s equivalent of traffic lights – on the Sutton/Wimbledon loop, covering 37 miles of track, along with rebuilding Mitcham Eastfield level crossing.

The project also upgraded five railway junctions, includeed the renewal of 70 signals, the replacement of over 100 track circuits with modern axle counters - which provide information about the location of trains - and 115 new signalling equipment housings. These improvements will also contribute to better train punctuality by reducing infrastructure faults and the risk of train delays.

Network Rail’s scheme sponsor, Leigh Collins, said: “Most passengers don’t notice signalling until it goes wrong and this upgrade will provide passengers with a resilient system that will last for years to come.

“We’ve been working towards this day for five years and investing in modern technology is crucial to cater for the growing number of passengers in the capital. I know there have been many days of weekend work over the last few years and I’m grateful for passengers ’patience and understanding.”

As part of the project, control of the signalling system on this part of the network was transferred from Victoria signalling centre at Clapham, south west London, to Three Bridges Rail Operating Centre in Sussex.

Work has been carried in stages and this Easter was the final piece of the jigsaw when old signals were removed and the new signals switched on, and tested before coming into operation on Tuesday morning.

Elsewhere over Easter, work was undertaken to improve drainage in Sevenoaks Tunnel in Kent, and to renew track between New Cross and Norwood Junction. Overall, more than £10m was spent over the Easter weekend, with more than 2,000 staff working on projects across the South East.