READING RAILWAY MILESTONE SIGNALS PROGRESS ON STATION REDEVELOPMENT

Tuesday 13 Jul 2010

READING RAILWAY MILESTONE SIGNALS PROGRESS ON STATION REDEVELOPMENT

Region & Route:: Wales & Western: Western; | Wales & Western

Signalling preparatory work now 40% complete. Remaining work to be undertaken at Christmas.

Network Rail signalling engineers worked through the night on Saturday to complete vital preparatory work for the redevelopment of Reading’s railway. Forty percent of the preparatory signalling work has now been completed, with engineers working at night on weekends to minimise the impact of work on passengers. The complexity of the remaining signalling work is such that it can only be undertaken at Christmas, when engineers have more time to work on the railway.

Network Rail is transforming the railway at Reading, building five new platforms and two new entrances at the station and untangling the complicated track layout to increase capacity and cut delays. Before this work can begin in earnest, signalling control for the entire Reading area has to be transferred to a brand new control centre in Didcot.

Thanks to careful planning, Network Rail has been able to complete a significant portion of the signalling work in advance of Christmas, minimising disruption to passengers.

Bill Henry, Network Rail project director for the Reading scheme, said: "The completion of this resignalling work marks an important milestone for the Reading project, we’ve been working overnight at weekends since the start of the year to get as much work done as we possibly can in advance of Christmas. The work has run very smoothly and every phase of work so far has been delivered on time.

"There’s no let up in our programme – over the coming months we’ll be planning and rehearsing the work we need to do at Christmas to make sure we’re as prepared as we possibly can be."

Network Rail will complete two important jobs on the railway at Reading this Christmas. In addition to the completion of the preparatory signalling work, a 1,000 tonne rail bridge will be replaced over Caversham Road to provide room for new track above. This work will mean trains are unable to serve the station for a number of days over Christmas and New Year, however the station will not be closed for the entire Christmas period and buses will take passengers to nearby stations to continue their journeys. Passengers are advised to check the Network Rail and First Great Western websites for more details.

Ends

Notes to editors

The transfer of signalling control to the new Thames Valley Signalling Centre (TVSC) in Didcot is part of a long term project to consolidate signalling control for large sections of the Western route into a single state of the art facility.

Signalling control between Woodborough and Theale on the Berks and Hants line, and from Goring to Cholsey on the Great Western Mainline has now been transferred to TVSC.

Over Christmas 2010 signalling for the Reading area itself will be transferred (between Ruscombe and Pangbourne on the Great Western Mainline, to Theale on the Berks and Hants line, and to Wokingham on the Southern lines).

Due to the complexity of the work that needs to be undertaken and the number of lines that intersect at Reading, this work requires that sections of railway are closed for a number of days. As such the work will be undertaken over the Christmas period when the railway is less busy than normal.

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