Media centre

Tuesday 12 Apr 2016

Paul is working for you in the south east this May bank holiday

Region & Route:

| Southern

Network Rail’s face of the May Day Bank Holiday, Paul Clark, from Kent, is used to spending his weekends and bank holidays working to improve the railway in the south east of England.

Paul, from Ashford, will be one of many hundreds of Network Rail staff working on the railway in the south east this coming Bank Holiday, when there will be major work on lines into London Victoria and further afield in Kent.

He appears in Network Rail’s advertising campaign across the country, promoting the work he and many others will be doing in May.

An operations delivery manager, Paul works as part of the Thameslink Programme, improving the railway in and around London Bridge. He said: “Working to improve the railway overnight and at weekends is what we do – it’s our job.

“I know that passengers sometimes wish we weren’t doing this work on bank holidays, but we know this is when fewer people use the trains and when we can get on with doing what we have to do to rebuild the railway.

“I’m part of the team that manages our work to make sure it is all done in time and to get trains running again when we say we will, so I know how important what we do is to passengers. Most of the time people don’t even know we are out there, and that’s when I know we’ve done our job well.”

Work this May Day bank holiday is concentrated in south London, as a £44m project to improve signalling – the system that controls the safe movement of trains – takes place on the Brighton Main Line in the Streatham area. As a result, there will be no trains between Balham and Selhurst, with long-distance services to Victoria either diverted to London Bridge or operating with longer journey times via Crystal Palace.

There will be no Gatwick Express services over all three days of the weekend, although the airport will continue to be served by fast, direct trains to London Bridge. In addition, there will be no Southern and Gatwick Express services from London Victoria on Sunday.

A spokesperson for Southern/Gatwick Express, said: “The work to replace signalling systems between Balham and Norbury will ensure that train services can run more reliably in the area when everyone returns to work on Tuesday.

“While the work takes place, there will be major changes to Southern services to and from Victoria, with most Southern services being diverted to run to and from London Bridge instead. There will be no Southern services at all to or from Victoria on Sunday and no Gatwick Express services for the whole weekend, although Gatwick will be well served by London Bridge. Our message to passengers is check before you travel with National Rail Enquiries.”

In addition to the work at Streatham, Crossrail will be continuing its work at Abbey Wood, in South London, with new track being laid and an old station platform being demolished over all three days. The Thameslink Programme’s work at London Bridge means there will be no trains from Charing Cross on the Sunday, and buses will replace trains on the line between Gillingham and Faversham and on the Isle of Sheppey on Sunday only.

Passengers are advised to check before they travel at www.nationalrail.co.uk, or www.southernrailway.com  and www.southeasternrailway.co.uk

In addition they can follow our work on Twitter with the hashtag #MayBHWorks

NOTES

About the Thameslink Programme

The Thameslink Programme will transform north-south travel through London.

When complete in 2018 it will give passengers:

• New spacious trains running every 2 to 3 minutes through central London in the peak
• Improved connections and better options to more destinations on an expanded Thameslink network
• Robust new track and signalling systems offer more reliable journeys
• A completely rebuilt London Bridge station with more space and great facilities

Find out more at www.ThameslinkProgramme.co.uk  Follow @TLProgramme