Media centre

Thursday 31 Jan 2019

Work continues to increase train services along Lee Valley line

Region & Route:

Eastern: Anglia

| Eastern

Work to boost capacity along the Lee Valley rail corridor is continuing to deliver significant upgrades for passengers travelling between Stratford and a new station at Meridian Water in Enfield.

The £170 million Lee Valley Rail programme -  part of our Railway Upgrade Plan - is expected to be completed in May 2019. This will allow existing train services, which currently call at Angel Road to start to call at the new Meridian Water station. The extra capacity being delivered by the new track will allow two additional trains per hour in each direction to operate between Stratford and Meridian Water, reducing congestion and journey times for passengers. The additional services are expected to start in the autumn.

The new Meridian Water station, with its iconic design, is at the heart of a new £6bn development being led by Enfield Council which will see 10,000 new homes and thousands of jobs for the area.

This new station has been designed to provide better accessibility across the railway for the public with stairs and lifts providing step-free access to either side of the rail corridor. The enclosed concourse will provide shelter underneath a high quality ceiling featuring a bespoke golden panel design to give passengers a positive experience when using the station. Access to the platforms will be provided by steps and lifts.

Northumberland Park will benefit from a new platform served by the third track. An accessible footbridge with ramps has also been constructed and opened to facilitate a safe place for passengers to wait for their trains particularly during event days at the nearby stadium on White Hart Lane. The ramps provide an accessible route across the railway for wheelchair users, bicycles and buggies while a lift will be available to serve the new island platform.

Tottenham Hale station is a busy interchange between the main line services and the Victoria Line. For that reason, we are building a new accessible footbridge with stairs, lifts and an escalator to ease congestion and provide better passenger flow around the station. A new platform has also been constructed and will serve the additional services using the new track.

Meliha Duymaz, Network Rail’s route managing director for Anglia, said:

"The delivery of the Lee Valley Rail Programme continues to move forward with the culmination of years of hard work expected to be completed in May 2019 followed by a phased roll out of services using the new infrastructure in the autumn.

"This programme is a prime example of how the rail industry can work together with its partners to fund and deliver upgrades that will benefit passengers and improve their travelling experience for years to come."

Jamie Burles, Managing Director for Greater Anglia, said: “We’re confident that these major improvements to the railway in the Lea Valley area will bring huge benefits to our customers, both in terms of accessibility, ease of travel for everyone, and punctuality. This is a very busy part of our network, which we and Network Rail are transforming. I can’t wait to see one of our brand-new trains in the fantastic-looking new station along this route.” 

For more information please visit our project webpage https://www.networkrail.co.uk/running-the-railway/our-routes/anglia/lee-valley-rail-programme/