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The reintroduction of cross-London Thameslink services through London Bridge has moved a step closer with the completion of new track and signalling between London Bridge and Blackfriars.

Engineers will be working around-the-clock this festive period to complete more than £15m-worth of infrastructure upgrades across Scotland as part of Network Rail's GB-wide Railway Upgrade Plan.

• Significant passengers benefits to be realised in the months ahead as Network Rail mega-projects start to draw to a close
• Less passenger disruption this year despite more than £160m to be invested in the biggest Christmas railway investment programme ever undertaken
• Thousands of new services and trains start to come into operation in 2018 as a result of the Christmas investment programme 
• London Bridge station will be all but complete with the final section of the new concourse and brand new platforms 1-5 open for the first time

Residents living near the Wyre railway viaduct between Preston and Lancaster are invited to a drop-in event next week to find out more about upgrade work to the historic structure.

The Edinburgh Glasgow Improvement Programme (EGIP) reached another milestone this week with the first electric train running end-to-end on the main Edinburgh-Glasgow line.

This weekend, engineers working on site at West Calder station will crane two 10.5m tall lift towers into position as the new accessible footbridge begins to take shape.

Imagine driving a train with more than 1,000 passengers on board, all relying on you to carry them safely home to their families. You need to know that the train will stop where you want it to, when you want it to, whatever the weather.

The Southend Victoria line reopens tonight, (Friday 3 November) over a month ahead of schedule, following completion of the first phase of work to upgrade the overhead wiring system as part of a £46m programme to reduce delays and improve reliability on this part of the railway.