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Tuesday 23 Feb 2016

Residents invited to drop-in event about electrification work through Patchway

Region & Route:

| Wales & Western: Western

| Wales & Western

Patchway residents are invited to attend a drop-in event and learn about the work taking place in their area to prepare the Great Western Main Line for the arrival of a new fleet of electric trains.

The event will take place between 3pm and 7pm on Monday 29 February at the Aretians Rugby Club, Station Road, Patchway, Bristol. Members of the Network Rail project team will be on-hand throughout to explain the plans and to answer any questions.

The work forms part of Network Rail’s £40bn Railway Upgrade Plan to provide a bigger, better, more reliable railway for passengers and will involve the installation of overhead wires along two miles of railway from Patchway station to Cattybrook, including the Patchway tunnels. This overhead equipment is essential to power the new fleet of longer, faster, quieter and greener electric trains to run underneath.

The overhead lines will be installed using a process known as ‘piling’. Piling involves installing foundations in the ground to support the overhead gantries that will contain the electric wires.

Andrew Haynes, Network Rail’s project director for the west of England, said: “We will do everything we can to limit the disruption to our neighbours. This phase of construction is particularly noisy and that’s why we would like to give those who live close to the railway as much notice as possible.

“Piling is essential to pave the way for the long-term benefits that electric trains will bring. These benefits include faster trains with more seats and more legroom, and less noise and cleaner air for those living close to the railway.”

“Everyone is welcome at the drop-in and I’d urge anyone who wants to know more about our modernisation work, or has a question they’d like answered, to come along.”

For safety reasons piling can only take place when trains aren’t running and so tends to occur at night. Due to the disturbance piling can cause, Network Rail is limiting the overnight work in Patchway to Saturday nights between March and October. The exact timings of this work will be published in due course.

ENDS

Notes to editors

About Network Rail’s Railway Upgrade Plan

The Railway Upgrade Plan is Network Rail’s £40bn spending plan for Britain’s railways for the five year period up to 31 March 2019. The plan is designed to provide more capacity, relieve crowding and respond to tremendous growth the railways have seen – a doubling of passengers in the past twenty years. The plan will deliver a bigger, better railway with more trains, longer trains, faster trains with more infrastructure, more reliable infrastructure and better facilities for passengers, especially at stations.

About the Great Western Electrification Programme

Electrification will transform the railway between London and Oxford, Newbury, Bristol and Cardiff to deliver a faster, greener, quieter and more reliable railway for passengers, with extra capacity. Electrifying this part of the Great Western route will enhance 235 miles of one of Britain’s busiest and oldest railways, better connecting major towns and cities across southern England and South Wales. This investment, as well as the introduction of a fleet of new trains, will improve journey times and make services more comfortable, smoother, cleaner and quieter for passengers and people living near the railway.

For more information about the Great Western Electrification Programme, visit: http://www.networkrail.co.uk/great-western-route-modernisation/