Monday 10 Nov 2014
VIDEO: Brighton to London Bridge - stunning new helicopter footage shows improvements taking shape thanks to massive Thameslink railway upgrade
- Region & Route:
- | Southern
Aerial footage showing the huge amount of work taking place to improve journeys on one of Europe’s busiest rail routes has been captured by helicopter.
Network Rail is completely rebuilding London Bridge as part of the £6.5bn government-sponsored Thameslink Programme to increase capacity and reliability on one of Europe’s busiest routes.
Network Rail’s inspection helicopter, which uses state-of-the-art technology to monitor thousands of miles of track, captured the huge amount of work that was completed during the August bank holiday weekend on film. Over 1200 engineers worked day and night to open two new platforms and replace 40-year-old track and signalling equipment on the approach to the station.
From 20 December 2014 - when passenger numbers are at their lowest due to the Christmas holiday - and throughout 2015 the the journeys of thousands of commuters will be affected as the work to rebuild the station enters a new phase.
Notes to editors
The footage was captured on 26 August 2014 by a Network Rail helicopter. These are used to survey the railway and respond to incidents.
A real-time, un-annotated version is available by request from the Network Rail press office.
For more information please visit ThameslinkProgramme.co.uk or your train operator’s website:
- Southeastern - www.southeasternrailway.co.uk
- Thameslink - www.thameslinkrailway.com
- Southern - www.southernrailway.com
About Thameslink
The government-sponsored £6.5bn Thameslink Programme will transform north-south travel through London. When complete in 2018 it will give passengers:
- New, spacious trains running every 2 to 3 minutes through central London in the peak
- Improved connections and better options to more destinations on an expanded Thameslink network including Cambridge and Peterborough
- Robust new track and signalling systems offer more reliable journeys
- A completely rebuilt London Bridge station with more space and great facilities
Find out more at ThameslinkProgramme.co.uk
Follow @TLProgramme
London Bridge facts:
- Over 117 million people a year go to London Bridge or through it to Cannon Street and Charing Cross – 54 million start or end their at London Bridge itself
- Platform 6 is the busiest in Europe serving 18 trains per hour
- The new concourse at London Bridge will be bigger than the pitch at Wembley, increasing passenger capacity by 65%
- London Bridge will be longer than the Shard is tall
- Up to 24 trains per hour will run in each direction, during the peak, between St Pancras and Blackfriars
- Up to 18 Thameslink trains an hour will run in each direction, during the peak, between London Bridge and St Pancras – currently there are none between 7.30 and 9am
- 178 years old – London Bridge is London’s oldest surviving rail terminus, first opened in Dec 1836
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.
Follow us on Twitter: @networkrail
Visit our online newsroom: www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk