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Wednesday 23 Aug 2023

REMINDER: Essential weekend engineering work set to take place between Rayleigh and Southend Victoria this September

Region & Route:

Eastern: Anglia

During four consecutive weekends in September, engineers will be working to maintain the safety of our infrastructure between Shenfield, Southend Victoria, and Southminster. 

The work will cover a range of activities including:
- Maintenance of overhead electrification equipment and inspections to prevent de-wirements, which can cause disruption to trains if it were to occur when they are running.

- Installation of new switches (movable sections of track that allow trains to cross from one line to other) to reduce delays significantly.

- Maintenance of point heaters at Southend Victoria, which are installed on movable sections of track to prevent them from freezing in one position during cold weather.

- Drilling of boreholes and installation of inclinometer tubing at Arnold Wood, between Shenfield and Mountnessing junction, to monitor the embankment during times of excessive rainfall.

- Jet washing of platforms at Rochford Station and replacement of copper stones at Southend Victoria station to eliminate potential tripping hazards. This will be carried out as part of Greater Anglia’s pre-planned cleaning and reactive maintenance programme which they have in place for all stations.

- Vegetation clearance to reduce the risk of leaf fall affecting train operations and trees or branches falling onto the track.

This work is set to take place over the following weekends:

• Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 September
• Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 September
• Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 September
• Sunday 1 October

Buses will replace trains between Wickford and Southend Victoria up to and including 24 September. 

On Sunday 1 October, buses will replace trains between Shenfield and Southend Victoria and between Wickford and Southminster all day.

Mark Walker, Network Rail Anglia route infrastructure engineer, said: “An efficient and safe railway is a well-maintained railway. While there is never a good time to close a busy and important line, maintenance work is important to keep trains running safely and reliably for passengers and freight journeys. I’d like to thank all our customers for their patience while we carry out these essential maintenance tasks.”

Jamie Burles, Greater Anglia managing director, said: “This work is extremely important to help maintain the safe and reliable running of the railway – we would like to thank customers for their patience and understanding while it is carried out.“A rail replacement service will run while the work takes place and passengers are advised to check before they travel and allow more time for their journey.”

Full details and journey planners are available on greateranglia.co.uk or nationalrail.co.uk