Vital improvements for Norwich to London rail passengers to take place at weekends and Christmas

Monday 18 Sep 2017

Vital improvements for Norwich to London rail passengers to take place at weekends and Christmas

Region & Route:: Eastern: Anglia; | Eastern

Important upgrades for the Crossrail programme and work to install new overhead wires on the line between Norwich and London will take place at weekends from October to December, with a ten-day closure at Christmas.

During that time, Network Rail’s engineers will spend the equivalent of 20,000 hours replacing just over 10km of overhead wire at Ilford as part of a £250m project to upgrade the wiring system on the busy mainline. Once this work is complete, the stretch from Chelmsford to Ilford will have had the new wire installed, resulting in fewer delays.

The wires and structures that are currently in place were installed in the 1950s and the system is one of the oldest in the country. When the weather gets hot, the wires sag and speed restrictions have to be imposed to protect them from damage by trains. The new wires are controlled by a system of weights, to keep them taut at all times, so trains can pass at their normal speed meaning fewer delays.

Meliha Duymaz, Network Rail’s route managing director for Anglia, said: “Our investment programme in our vital railway infrastructure on this very busy route continues as part of our Railway Upgrade Plan. While there will be short-term disruption, the benefits for passengers are real and will last for decades as modern, more reliable infrastructure is installed and preparations made for the introduction of new services and new trains on the Elizabeth line.”

Jamie Burles, Greater Anglia managing director, said: “We will make sure that customers can complete their journeys during all periods of engineering works, even if part of it is by bus. Our rail replacement bus service operates very smoothly, with extra staff on hand to direct customers to the right bus. These works are crucial if we are to get the modern railway we need in East Anglia and combined with the new trains we’re getting to replace every single train on our network, should lead to a transformed railway for us all.”

Work will also take place at TfL Rail stations between Brentwood and Stratford as part of the Crossrail programme, including:

Continuing work at Pudding Mill Lane near Stratford to connect the Elizabeth line’s central tunnel section to the main line
Major track and overhead wire modernisation at Gidea Park sidings to accommodate the longer Elizabeth line trains
Works will also be continuing to deliver step free access and station improvements for passengers at stations in preparation for the opening of the Elizabeth line at the end of 2018

When complete, the Elizabeth line will increase central London’s rail capacity by 10% and bring 1.5 million extra people within 45 minutes of central London.

The main work begins on Saturday 21 October and affects passengers travelling on some Saturdays and Sundays throughout the autumn, although there are weekends in November and December without any works. Passengers should check how their journey will be affected at www.nationalrail.co.uk, www.tfl.gov.uk or with their train operator ahead of travelling.

Notes to Editors

Greater Anglia

Saturday, October 21, 2017 to Sunday, October 22, 2017

A rail replacement bus service will run between Ingatestone/ Wickford and Newbury Park (London Underground) all weekend. Tickets will be accepted on the Central line from Newbury Park to/ from London Liverpool Street on both days. c2c ticket acceptance will also be offered on the Southend Branch Line.

Sunday, October 29, 2017

A rail replacement bus service will run between Ingatestone/ Billericay and Newbury Park (London Underground). Tickets will be accepted on the Central line from Newbury Park to/ from London Liverpool Street. Please note that trains will terminate at Shenfield for passengers for local stations, however London bound passengers should disembark at Ingatestone/ Billericay for bus to Newbury Park and onward travel to London.

Saturday, November 4 to Sunday 5 November, 2017

A rail replacement bus service will run between Ingatestone/ Billericay and Newbury Park (London Underground). Tickets will be accepted on the Central line from Newbury Park to/ from London Liverpool Street. c2c ticket acceptance will also be offered on the Southend Branch Line. Please note that trains will terminate at Shenfield for passengers for local stations, however London bound passengers should disembark at Ingatestone/ Billericay for bus to Newbury Park and onward travel to London.

On Sunday, until 13.30 ALL trains terminating at Ingatestone and Billericay with onward travel by rail replacement to Newbury Park. After 13.30 on Sunday trains will terminate at Shenfield for local passengers only.

Saturday, November 18, 2017

A rail replacement service will run between Ingatestone/ Billericay and Newbury Park (London Underground). Tickets will be accepted on the Central line from Newbury Park to/ from London Liverpool Street. Please note that trains will terminate at Shenfield for passengers for local stations, however London bound passengers should disembark at Ingatestone/ Billericay for bus to Newbury Park and onward travel to London.

Sunday, November 19, 2017

Until 11.25, a rail replacement bus service will run between Colchester/Billericay and Newbury Park. A train shuttle service will operate on the Braintree and Sudbury Lines, connecting into rail replacement services to Newbury Park.

After 11.25 trains will resume from Colchester to Ingatestone and a rail replacement bus service will between Ingatestone/ Billericay and Newbury Park (London Underground). Tickets will be accepted on the Central line from Newbury Park to/ from London Liverpool Street on both days. Please note that trains will terminate at Shenfield for passengers for local stations, however London bound passengers should disembark at Ingatestone/ Billericay for bus to Newbury Park and onward travel to London.

Christmas

TfL Rail

Saturday 16 and 23 September and 7 October

There will be no service between Liverpool Street and Stratford. Customers are advised to use the Central line instead.

Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 October

There will be no service between Stratford and Shenfield. Rail replacement buses will run:

Stratford – Forest Gate – Manor Park – Ilford – Seven Kings – Goodmayes – Chadwell Heath – Romford
Newbury Park (for the Central line) – Chadwell Heath - Romford – Gidea Park – Harold Wood – Brentwood – Shenfield

Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 October

On Saturday, trains will not stop at Maryland, Forest Gate or Manor Park. On Sunday, there will be no service between Liverpool Street and Ilford. Customers are advised to use local bus routes instead.

Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 November

There will be no service between Liverpool Street and Shenfield. Rail replacement buses will run:

Stratford – Forest Gate – Manor Park – Ilford – Seven Kings – Goodmayes – Chadwell Heath – Romford
Newbury Park (for the Central line) – Chadwell Heath - Romford – Gidea Park – Harold Wood – Brentwood – Shenfield

Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 November

There will be no service between Liverpool Street and Romford. Rail replacement buses will run:

Stratford – Forest Gate – Manor Park – Ilford – Seven Kings – Goodmayes – Chadwell Heath – Romford

Saturdays 25 November and 2, 9 and 16 December:

There will be no service between Chadwell Heath and Shenfield. Rail replacement buses will run:

Chadwell Heath - Romford – Gidea Park – Harold Wood – Brentwood – Shenfield

Christmas

There will be no service between Shenfield and London Liverpool Street from Saturday 23 December until Monday 1 January.

Rail replacement buses will run (except from 23:00 on Christmas Eve and all day on Christmas Day):

Stratford – Forest Gate – Manor Park – Ilford –Seven Kings – Goodmayes – Chadwell Heath – Romford
Newbury Park (for the Central line) – Chadwell Heath - Romford – Gidea Park – Harold Wood – Brentwood – Shenfield

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 - Katie Mack
Media relations manager (Anglia route)
0330 8577 132
Katie.Mack@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.

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