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Monday 18 May 2009

VITAL RAIL WORKS FOR WEST MIDLANDS OVER BANK HOLIDAY WEEKEND

Region & Route:

Following the successful delivery of rail improvements around Britain at Easter, Network Rail will again work around the clock over this bank holiday weekend (May 22-25) to invest millions in Britain’s railway.

The improvements are just part of the £35bn that will be invested in the railways in the next five years.

Nuneaton will see signalling work and the renewal of two level crossings which are life expired. Signalling work will also be taking place at Rugby. Passengers will benefit from this work through increased reliability of the infrastructure which will lead to more reliable train journeys.

The work Network Rail is doing at Stoke between the 23rd May and the 1st June will increase line speed through Stoke station and allow for longer trains to stop there. Network Rail is removing a redundant line and the accompanying signals and crossing, which will simplify the layout of the track. This along with the re-alignment of track will mean an increase in speed through the station. The sigalling will be renewed and one of the platforms is being extended by 15m at each end to allow for 11 car trains to stop at the station. Following the work passengers will see faster trains running through the station and longer trains when they are introduced.

Colwich junction is also being renewed over the bank holiday. This project is renewing a vital junction and components to provide smoother, more reliable journeys for passengers while also reducing the maintenance required at this key location. The works will also reduce the journey time through the Colwich junction area.

Jo Kaye, West Coast Route Director for Network Rail, said:

“The improvements being carried out across the railway network will help further improve reliability and give us the means to run more trains and longer trains on the line in future. To make this a reality our engineers will be working day and night over the bank holiday weekend. Fewer people travel at bank holidays, so this is the best time for us to do our work.

“To reduce the impact on passengers, we have been working with our rail industry partners to keep the vast majority of services running over the bank holiday weekends. There will be significantly more trains running over the spring bank holiday weekend this May than in 2008.”

Although most of the network is open as usual, Network Rail advises travellers to plan their journeys in advance. Passengers can check before they travel with National Rail enquiries on 08457 48 49 50 or at www.nationalrail.co.uk/holidays .