Media centre

Monday 6 Mar 2006

TURNING BACK TO REDUCE DELAYS FOR WORCESTER PASSENGERS

Region & Route:

| Wales & Western: Wales & Borders

| Wales & Western: Western

| Wales & Western

Passengers in Worcester are set to benefit as Network Rail announced details of progress in their drive to improve train punctuality along the Cotswold Line today. A new piece of signalling equipment will, for the first time allow trains from London Paddington which are terminating at Worcester Foregate Street to “turn back” and begin their return journey without leaving the station. This will allow London bound services to be at the station much earlier and gives more flexibility for train operators to run a reliable service. Robbie Burns, Network Rail’s Western Route Director, explained: “Historically services were regularly delayed at Foregate Street as trains had to leave the station and travel a mile to sidings before being able to return to the platform. Our engineers have worked hard to find a solution and this new piece of kit will reduce this delay. There is a lot more to be done, but this represents another step towards a more reliable train service for passengers in Worcester and along the Cotswold Line.” Network Rail engineers also recently replaced nearly a mile of track on the Cotswold Line north of Moreton-in-Marsh. This has enabled a speed restriction to be lifted, reducing delays for passengers. Richard Rowland, First Great Western’s General Manager for the Cotswolds said: “Good performance along this route is vital due to the long stretches of single line track. This piece of work by Network Rail along with the removal of the speed restriction at Blockley will make the services more reliable. We are pleased with the focus Network Rail is giving to this important line and look forward to the completion of the next piece of signalling work which will further improve the performance of our services along this route.”