VIDEO: Network Rail replaces track at Waterloo for a more reliable railway

Monday 27 Mar 2017

VIDEO: Network Rail replaces track at Waterloo for a more reliable railway

Region & Route:: Southern: Wessex; | Southern

Network Rail has completed three weekends of work at Waterloo to replace key sections of track as part of its Railway Upgrade Plan for a better railway for passengers.

Network Rail’s orange army worked around the clock over three weekends in March to replace large sections of the switches and crossings – which allow trains to move between tracks and to access the correct platforms – at Waterloo. Some of the switches and crossings replaced during the work will ensure that trains can access the former International Terminal, which Network Rail is currently rebuilding to provide an extra five platforms at Waterloo.

Stuart Kistruck, director of route asset management at Network Rail, said: “As one of the most heavily used sections of railway in Britain, it is essential that we carry out these upgrades as part of our Railway Upgrade Plan, to provide passengers with a reliable service.

“At the same time, we’re also preparing the track to accommodate more trains as part of our £800 million upgrade, and the work this month is a vital part of that. I’d like to thank passengers for their patience while we’ve carried out our work.”

Passengers using Waterloo are also advised that Network Rail will be continuing work to deliver its £800 million Waterloo & South West Upgrade over the Easter weekend, and there will be reduced services at the station from Friday 14 to Sunday 16 April (inclusive). Passengers can check how their journeys are impacted on nationalrail.co.uk, and can find out more information on the Waterloo & South West Upgrade at networkrail.co.uk/wswupgrade.

ENDS

Notes to Editors

This is the biggest investment at Waterloo for decades. It will provide a bigger and better London Waterloo and 30% more space for passengers during the morning and evenings. This will also allow us to provide more space for longer distance passengers in the near future.

At Waterloo we are working to:

Create a spacious, modern and accessible station concourse by rebuilding the former Waterloo International Terminal.
Increase services by bringing platforms 20-24 back into permanent use and introducing modern facilities along with new track and signalling.
Allow longer 10-carriage trains to run to London suburban stations by extending platforms 1-4.

Across the network, the Waterloo & South West Upgrade will bring:

Longer platforms for longer trains, at a number of stations on the Reading line.
30 brand new trains, providing 150 extra carriages. The trains will run between London Waterloo and Windsor & Eton Riverside, including the Hounslow Loop and Weybridge via Brentford, calling at many of the network’s busiest stations such as Clapham Junction, Vauxhall, Brentford and Twickenham.
New technology to make trains more efficient and improve punctuality.
Improvements to depots and maintenance facilities to look after the network’s biggest ever fleet of trains.

August 2017

During August, work will start to extend platforms 1-4, to allow longer 10-carriage trains to run on Suburban routes. Platforms have already been extended at more than 60 stations on the suburban network but London Waterloo is the final, and most complex, station which needs upgrading. Due to the layout of the track and the curve of the neighbouring platforms, to extend platforms 1-4, we also need to carry out the following works, which requires platforms 1-9 to be closed:

Install new track on the approaches to platforms 1-8.
Realign and rebuild the far ends of platforms 5-8.
Provide access for the required machinery to carry out the works.

There will still be some further work to carry out after August 2017, but this will be restricted to weekends. When completed, longer 10-carriage trains will be able to serve suburban routes when the new timetable is introduced from December 2017.

Passengers can check how they will be affected by visiting southwesttrains.co.uk/wswupgrade or by searching online for ‘Waterloo Upgrade’.

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 - Owen Johns
Media relations manager (Wessex route)
07710 959476
Owen.Johns@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.