SHENFIELD RAIL NOISE LEVELS TO REDUCE

Thursday 9 Aug 2007

SHENFIELD RAIL NOISE LEVELS TO REDUCE

Region & Route:: Eastern: Anglia; | Eastern

Noise levels produced by trains travelling through Shenfield station will be significantly reduced following track renewal work soon to be carried out by Network Rail. This will allow those who live nearby to have quieter nights. Around £6million is being invested to replace switches and crossings across all four tracks in the station area. The new design creates less noise as the trains travel over them. They require less maintenance than the old types, reducing the need for closures on the line. Shenfield is an important junction for the Greater Anglia route where trains switch tracks to go to the Southend branch or continue on towards Norwich. The works are scheduled to take place in seven phases starting from Sat 25 August 2007 until March 2008*. David Wilks, Network Rail’s South East Territory Maintenance Director said: “This investment is part of our huge national programme to deliver improvements to the network. We are writing to residents today to let them know about the works. We appreciate their patience and cooperation whilst we carry it out. Some of the works will be a little noisy, but those living close by will reap the benefits of a quieter railway once we are completed.” As well as letters being sent out, Network Rail will be holding a special question and answer session for residents at Shenfield station on Tuesday 21 August at 5pm.

Notes to editors

*Phase 1 – Sat 25th August 2007 06:00 to Tues 28th August 2007 04:00 Work in this phase will be carried out adjacent to Friars Avenue and Herington Grove, and certain residences in Friars Close, Hutton Road, Willow Close and Mount Avenue may also be affected. Phase 2 – Sat 1st September 2007 06:00 to Mon 3rd September 2007 04:30 Work in this phase will be carried out adjacent to Hunter Avenue and Alexander Lane, and certain residences in Rayleigh Road, Hutton Road, Mount Avenue, Willow Close and Herington Grove may also be affected. Phase 3 – Sat 8th September 2007 06:00 to Mon 10th September 2007 04:30 Work in this phase will be carried out at the same location as Phase 2. Phases 4, 5 and 6 – These works will be carried out over a ten day period from 02:00 on 23rd December 2007 to 04:30 on 2nd January 2008. Phase 7 – This will take place on two weekends in March 2008. Network Rail will ensure that all residents in the area are kept up to date with these ongoing works, and provide detailed information on Phases 4, 5, 6 and 7 closer to those times. Residents who require further information or have any concerns regarding these works, should contact Network Rail's National Helpline on 08457 11 41 41.

Contact information

Passengers / community members
Network Rail national helpline
03457 11 41 41

Latest travel advice
Please visit National Rail Enquiries

Journalists
Network Rail press office - South East route
020 3357 7969
southeastroutecomms@networkrail.co.uk

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.

Media centre