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Friday 22 Jan 2016

Time-lapse video captures orange army’s 20,000 hours of work to improve railway in west London

Region & Route:

| Eastern: Anglia

| Eastern

| Southern

Video footage has captured Network Rail’s orange army working around the clock over a combined 20,000 hours to improve the railway in west London, making it more reliable for passengers.

A time-lapse video shows the extent of the work carried out in the last few weeks to improve reliability, including the replacement of switch and crossing units, over 300 metres of track and over 4,700 tonnes of ballast. A bridge at Acton Wells was also strengthened to improve safety and increase its longevity.

Network Rail completed the work without disrupting train services for passengers who rely on the route every day.

A spokesperson for Network Rail, said: “Our team has worked hard to upgrade this part of the railway, making it more reliable for the thousands of passengers who use it every day.

“The signals have been replaced, new track has been laid and the bridge has been strengthened. We’d like to thank lineside neighbours and passengers for their patience while the work was carried out.”

Network Rail’s Railway Upgrade Plan saw the successful building and construction of new station facilities, longer platforms, extra tracks, new junctions and thousands of pieces of new, more reliable equipment installed across the country over December and January.

The work was timed to take advantage of a relatively quieter time of the year when, on average, fewer than half the usual 4.5m people use the railway each day – enabling Network Rail and train operators to minimise disruption as much as possible.

ENDS

Notes to editors:

The bridge at Acton Wells carries the London Overground from Willesden Junction to Richmond over the Central line and the Great Western Main Line. The work was carried out over ten days during late December and early January.

The work included replacing a total of 12 switch and crossing units, which allow trains to move from one set of tracks to another, over 300m of track and almost 5,000 tonnes of ballast.