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Friday 7 Jun 2013

Passengers urged to find out more about West Coast Main Line improvement work

Region & Route:

Passengers are being urged to find out more about how major improvement work on the West Coast Main Line in Lancashire will affect their journeys next month.

From Saturday 13 to Sunday 21 July, trains will be unable to operate over an 18-mile stretch of line between Warrington Bank Quay, Wigan North Western and Preston while four life-expired junctions are replaced and three miles of track re-laid.

Train operators will be making alternative arrangements to help passengers complete their journeys during the line closure and next week there will be a series of road shows at stations in Lancashire where passengers can find out more:

• Wigan North Western – 7-10am, Monday 10^th June
• Warrington Bank Quay – 7-10am, Tuesday 11^th June
• Preston – 7-10am,Wednesday 12^th June

Representatives from Network Rail and train operating companies will be on hand to provide further information and answer any questions.

Dyan Crowther, Network Rail route managing director, said: “This scheme represents significant investment in the railway in this area to increase line speeds and make the railway more reliable and punctual.

“There is never a good time to carry out major work on such a busy route and after careful discussion with the train operators and industry partners, it was decided that carrying out this vital investment in nine consecutive days in July would, overall, cause least disruption.

“Train services are quieter at this time and fewer people are expected to experience changes to their travel plans compared to the alternative, which would have been to stagger the work over the next two years, impacting on dozens of weekends and bank holidays.”

Usually, Network Rail would have carried out work of this kind over a number of bank holiday weekends requiring train services to be replaced repeatedly by alternative transport. By carrying out the work in a nine-day continuous spell this summer, engineers expect to be able to complete the replacement of the four junctions around 16 months earlier and to avoid disrupting rail travel plans for many weekends and nine bank holidays over the next two years.