Media centre

Thursday 21 Nov 2013

Record investment in the railway in the south and south west of England

Region & Route:

| Southern: Wessex

| Southern

Figures released today show record levels of investment have been made across the south and south west of England as part of the ongoing work to provide a better railway in Britain.

More than £146m was invested by the Network Rail and South West Trains Alliance between 1 April and 31 October 2013 to transform stations, improve safety and increase the reliability of the infrastructure.

The investment has delivered a range of improvements for passengers on the Wessex route including longer platforms; better access with new lifts and bridges at stations; improved information systems with stations; footbridges at level crossings to improve safety; and track and power upgrades to provide better, more reliable journeys.

Nationally, Network Rail’s half-year results show a total of £2.74bn was invested in the railway across Britain – an increase of 33% on the same period last year and 53% higher than four years ago.

Tim Shoveller, managing director of the Network Rail and South West Trains Alliance said: "The railway across the south and south west of England continues to experience growth and we are responding to that demand through the biggest sustained investment programme since Victorian times.

“We are squeezing all we can out of the existing network and continue to invest record amounts to deliver a better railway for passengers. We are also driving down the cost of running the railway to help make it more efficient and affordable in the years ahead. We will continue to invest in and improve the network so we can provide passengers with the best possible level of service.”

Over the past six months more than £146m has been spent on improvements on the Wessex route including:

• £22m on new switches and crossings
• £42m on track renewals
• £24m to improve signalling
• £12m on electrification enhancements
• The start of work on the £13m resignalling project between Poole and Wool
• £6.5m on the renewal of signalling in the Farnham area
• Two new footbridges built at Alton and Farnham stations to improve accessibility
• A new footbridge built at North Sheen level crossing
• The £6m redevelopment of Wokingham station
• Improved customer information screens at Clapham Junction station

Across the south and south west of England, £90.7m has been spent lengthening platforms at 65 stations to provide additional capacity for passengers travelling in and out of London. The work is part of the Network Rail and South West Trains Alliance’s commitment to help increase capacity and provide more space for passengers on one of the busiest routes in the country. Some of the work has taken place and been completed within the last six months.*

The Network Rail and South West Trains Alliance will continue to invest in the railway between London Waterloo and the south and south west of England to further improve the railway for passengers.

A multi-million pound package of improvements is planned on the approach to and at Waterloo station to improve the reliability of the infrastructure and help boost capacity. Platform 20 in the Waterloo International Terminal will be brought into permanent use in April 2014 and work will take place during 2014 to reinstate further platforms in the terminal. Extra carriages will be added to trains to provide additional capacity and seats for passengers.

Work also started on a new state-of-the-art signalling and training centre in Basingstoke which will control large areas of railway in London and the south west. It is due to be completed by the end of 2014.