Monday 14 Aug 2006

PONTEFRACT LINE ON TRACK WITH £3.5 MILLION OF IMPROVEMENTS

Region & Route:
Passengers travelling in the Ferrybridge area of South Yorkshire can now benefit  from a £3.5million projest to renew track in the area. In all, six miles of track have been removed and replaced between Milford and Ferrybridge since 17 July.  The new tracks mean quicker and smoother journies for passengers. Brian Timms, Infrastructure Maintenance Manger at Network Rail, said: “This route is a key freight link to our three local power stations at Ferrybridge, Drax and Eggborough - as well as providing a valued transport link for local people.  I am delighted that this work will allow us to boost speed and comfort on the route." In order to complete the work, it was necessary to close sections of track.  From 6am Monday 17 July to 4pm Sunday 23 July, work was carried out around Pontefract Baghill station.  The station and around two miles of track were closed during this time. A second blockade ran from 6am Monday 31 July until 4pm Sunday 13 August.  This included seven worksites over around four miles and resulted in the removal of a number of speed restrictions.

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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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