PRIME MINISTER PUTS SPOTLIGHT ON RAIL INVESTMENT

Wednesday 24 Mar 2010

PRIME MINISTER PUTS SPOTLIGHT ON RAIL INVESTMENT

Region & Route:: National

Network Rail today welcomed the budget day visit by the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer to see one of London's biggest infrastructure projects.

Network Rail is transforming Blackfriars station into a new London landmark and the first railway station to span the Thames as part of a scheme that will deliver up to 30,000 more seats for passengers.

The project will:

- allow longer trains with more space for passengers to run on the Thameslink route from December 2011

- build the first new station on the South Bank for more than 100 years providing better access to destinations like Tate Modern and Shakespeare's Globe

- completely rebuild Blackfriars Underground station

Network Rail chief executive, Iain Coucher said:

"On a day when the country is focused on the economy, it is fitting that the spotlight falls on one of London's biggest civil engineering jobs at Blackfriars station.

"Maintaining investment in rail infrastructure has never been more important. As well as bringing significant benefits for passengers, it is an investment in the future of our country.

"Projects like the Thameslink Programme create jobs and help businesses thrive, playing an important part in keeping London's place as the number one city in the world."

The work at Blackfriars station is part of the congestion-busting Thameslink Programme. More details about this scheme can be found at www.networkrail.co.uk/thameslink

Notes to editors

· By December 2011 rail capacity into central London on the Thameslink route will increase by 3,500 seats each morning and evening compared with 2008 figures. Additional work at London Bridge (the next stage of the Thameslink Programme) will see an increase of up to 30,000 seats each morning and evening on the central London section of the Thameslink route.

· Blackfriars station is on schedule to be complete in Spring 2012

· At its busiest, more than 500 construction workers have been on site.

· The redundant red pillars in the river next to Blackfriars Railway Bridge will be used to support the new station.

· More than 30,000 of the original rivets that supported the historic bridge have already been replaced.

· As part of the Thameslink Programme, Network Rail is also carrying out major work at Farringdon station, creating a new station linking to Crossrail services, at London Bridge and stations like Luton and Bedford to allow longer trains to stop.

Contact information

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About Network Rail

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.

Usually, there are almost five million journeys made in the UK and over 600 freight trains run on the network. People depend on Britain's railway for their daily commute, to visit friends and loved ones and to get them home safe every day. Our role is to deliver a safe and reliable railway, so we carefully manage and deliver thousands of projects every year that form part of the multi-billion pound Railway Upgrade Plan, to grow and expand the nation's railway network to respond to the tremendous growth and demand the railway has experienced - a doubling of passenger journeys over the past 20 years.