Tuesday 2 Oct 2007
RENEWING THE RAILWAY IN DEVON & CORNWALL
- Region & Route:
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Wales & Western: Wales & Borders
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Southern: Wessex
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Wales & Western
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Southern
Smoother and more reliable train journeys in Devon and Cornwall is the goal of vital annual improvement works that Network Rail is to carry out. Starting next week, essential track maintenance and renewals will begin on West Country branch lines.
Work begins on Monday 8 October on the Gunnislake branch line (Tamar Valley Line) for a week (excluding weekends), involving the replacing of rails, timbers and sleepers. The line will be closed from Monday 8 October until Friday 12 October, with replacement bus services running.
Greg Lunn, Network Rail’s Territory Maintenance Director for the area, said: "This crucial investment is part of Network Rail’s commitment to provide a safe and reliable railway for passengers in the region.
"We will do our utmost to make sure that disruption is kept to a minimum for rail travellers during this essential annual maintenance work."
Further line closures scheduled include (Monday – Friday):
Looe Branch (Looe Valley Line): 15 - 19 October
Paignton Branch (Riviera Line): 22 – 26 October
Falmouth Branch (Maritime Line): 29 Oct - 2 November
5 - 9 November
St. Ives Branch (St Ives Bay Line): 12 - 16 November
Barnstaple Branch (Tarka Line): 19 - 23 November
26 - 30 November
Newquay Branch (Atlantic Coast Line): 3 - 7 December
10 - 14 December
Julian Crow, First Great Western's Regional Manager, said: "Naturally we regret any difficulties this may cause to our passengers, but this work really is vital to keep the branch lines in good condition for many years to come.
"We work closely with Network Rail and always make every possible effort to minimise any impact on our customers' travel plans, however due to the scale of the essential works being undertaken, it is impossible to avoid disruption to some of our services."
During these line closures, bus replacement services will be provided and details of these services will be available at stations. Customers are advised to always check journey details with the National Rail Enquiries on 08457 484950 before travelling.
About Network Rail
We own, operate and develop Britain's railway infrastructure; that's 20,000 miles of track, 30,000 bridges, tunnels and viaducts and the thousands of signals, level crossings and stations. We run 20 of the UK's largest stations while all the others, over 2,500, are run by the country's train operating companies.
Usually, there are almost five million journeys made in the UK and over 600 freight trains run on the network. People depend on Britain's railway for their daily commute, to visit friends and loved ones and to get them home safe every day. Our role is to deliver a safe and reliable railway, so we carefully manage and deliver thousands of projects every year that form part of the multi-billion pound Railway Upgrade Plan, to grow and expand the nation's railway network to respond to the tremendous growth and demand the railway has experienced - a doubling of passenger journeys over the past 20 years.
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