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Tuesday 1 Sep 2015

Timelapse and pictures: Major railway rebuilding successfully delivered over Bank Holiday at London Bridge

Region & Route:

| Southern

Passengers and railway neighbours have been thanked for their patience after a weekend of Network Rail work in and around London Bridge.

The Government-sponsored Thameslink Programme is rebuilding London Bridge station and the railway around it in stages until 2018. The work this Bank Holiday weeked included the laying of more than 1km of new track, the installation of a massive new signal gantry near Waterloo East, several new sets of points installed and more than 6km of power cables laid. 

As a result, there were no trains to or from Charing Cross, Waterloo East, Cannon Street and parts of London Bridge over all three days of the holiday.

Thameslink Programme rail systems director Mark Somers said:  “I’d like to thank passengers and our neighbours for their patience this Bank Holiday as we have completed more work around London Bridge.

“Every weekend where we can do work on this scale is absolutely massive for us. Every single piece of track and every piece of equipment we put in position this weekend is crucial for Christmas, which will be the vital next stage for the project."

NOTES:

This weekend’s work – the technical details:

In total more than 20,000 hours of work were completed, involving 36 pieces of on-track machinery, including two massive rail cranes, and was serviced by more than 15 engineering trains, carrying 207 wagons.

Two new sets of crossovers were installed at Ewer Street, near Waterloo East, in preparation for when Charing Cross trains start using the new Borough Market Viaduct.

A new signal gantry was installed on the eastern approaches to Waterloo East.

A redundant signal gantry was removed from the eastern approaches to London Bridge.

Two tracks used by Charing Cross trains immediately outside London Bridge station were cut and moved to the north – ‘slewed’ in railway terminology. This will allow for the old track and right-of-way to be dug up and rebuilt in time for Christmas and the next major stage of rebuilding.

With all of the above, signalling equipment, which controls trains and detects where they are, had to be installed and tested.