Media centre

Wednesday 29 Aug 2018

Reliability improvements following major upgrades on Norwich to London main line

Region & Route:

Eastern: Anglia

| Eastern

Network Rail engineers completed an array of improvements on the Norwich to London main line over the three-day bank holiday weekend to make rail services more reliable as part of the company’s Railway Upgrade Plan.

Engineers made the most of the closure, with the completion of the following;

• 120 metres of track, one set of points, one new buffer stop and 1,200 tons of ballast were replaced at Colchester
• Installation of nearly 3km of track between Manningtree and Ardleigh
• Five structures that carry overhead wires were replaced between Marks Tey and Colchester
• Further work on the Felixstowe branch line as part of a £60.4m programme to install a 1.4km track loop near Trimley station, to enable an increase in freight services, as well as improvements to the reliability of existing passenger services.

Further closures will take place between Colchester and Chelmsford after the August bank holiday to renew the track. During weekends in September and October, buses will regularly replace trains between Ingatestone and Marks Tey, Colchester or Ipswich, and between Witham and Braintree (though a normal service will operate on the last Saturday in September, most Saturdays in October and the penultimate Sunday in October).

Meliha Duymaz, Network Rail’s route managing director for Anglia, said: “We have made some major improvements over the bank holiday weekend, which will prevent delays and cancellations on the busy main line as part of our Railway Upgrade Plan. Hundreds of services use this line every day which causes wear on the track, bridges and other parts of the railway. That is why work like this is essential to keep services on the move. I’d like to thank passengers for their patience while this work was carried out.”

Greater Anglia managing director Jamie Burles said: “We are very grateful to customers for their patience and understanding while this work was carried out. We booked 300 buses so everyone could complete their journeys, and extra staff were on hand to make sure customers caught the right bus.

“These engineering works are vital to improve the railway in East Anglia for everyone, making it more reliable for generations to come.”

Passengers can check how their journeys will be affected at www.nationalrail.co.uk or www.greateranglia.co.uk

 

Notes to editors

Further upgrades will take place throughout the Autumn to help further improve train service performance.  These works will affect services on 8 Saturdays and 11 Sundays on both the Great Eastern Main Line and the Witham to Braintree line.  Details of the dates affected are as follows:

Saturdays - 1, 8, 15, 22  September,  13 October, 3, 17, 24 November

Sundays - 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 September 7, 14, 28 October, 4, 18, 25 November

Most dates will affect all customers on the Great Eastern Main Line travelling to/from stations north of Chelmsford. However, the works on 13, 14 and 28 October only affect customers travelling to/from stations north of Ipswich.

Full details of the locations affected on each of the dates are as follows :

	Main line	Braintree branch line
Saturday 1 September	Marks Tey to Ingatestone	Rail replacement Braintree to Witham
Sunday 2 September	Ipswich to Ingatestone	Rail replacement Braintree to Witham
Saturday 8 September	Marks Tey to Ingatestone	Rail replacement Braintree to Witham
Sunday 9 September	Colchester to Ingatestone	Rail replacement Braintree to Witham
Saturday 15 September	Marks Tey to Ingatestone	Rail replacement Braintree to Witham
Sunday 16 September	Colchester to Ingatestone	Rail replacement Braintree to Witham
Saturday 22 September	Marks Tey to Ingatestone	Rail replacement Braintree to Witham
Sunday 23 September	Colchester to Ingatestone	Rail replacement Braintree to Witham
Saturday 29 September
Sunday 30 September	Colchester to Ingatestone	Rail replacement Braintree to Witham
Saturday 6 October
Sunday 7 October	Ipswich to Ingatestone	Rail replacement Braintree to Witham
Saturday 13 October	Norwich to Ipswich
Sunday 14 October	Norwich to Ipswich
Saturday 21 October
Sunday 22 October
Saturday 27 October
Sunday 28 October	Norwich to Ipswich
Saturday 3 November	Ingatestone to London Liverpool Street
Sunday 4 November	Colchester to London Liverpool Street	Rail replacement Braintree to Witham
Saturday 17 November	Ingatestone to London Liverpool Street
Sunday 18 November	Ingatestone to London Liverpool Street
Saturday 24 November	Ingatestone to London Liverpool Street
Sunday 25 November	Ingatestone to London Liverpool Street

There are no planned service alterations on Saturdays 29 September, 6, 20, 27 October, 11 November or Sundays 21 October and 11 November.