Media centre

Tuesday 29 May 2018

Railway reopens after successful Spring bank holiday upgrades are completed on time

Region & Route:

| North West & Central

The railway between London and Scotland via the West Midlands and north west has fully reopened after a number of upgrade projects were successfully completed on time.

Network Rail‘s Team Orange worked round-the-clock over the late May bank holiday weekend on improvements including track renewals and signalling upgrades.

Work which was completed on time and will help provide passengers with a better, more reliable railway included:

• Ongoing work on the Halton Chord and installing new signalling on the Weaver-Wavertree project on Merseyside
• Ongoing work to electrify the railway between Manchester and Preston via Bolton
• The introduction of new, modern signalling equipment between Birmingham New Street and Coventry
• Track renewal in the Penrith area improving reliability

Martin Frobisher, route managing director at Network Rail, said: “This work was part of our ongoing Railway Upgrade Plan which will provide customers with a better railway. There is never a good time to carry out work that affects services but we worked closely with the train operators for it to cause the least amount of disruption. I would like to thank passengers for their understanding while we completed these vital upgrades.”

Passengers can plan their journeys and check before they travel on the National Rail Enquires website at www.nationalrail.co.uk.