Crossrail

24.04.09

Network Rail boosts Crossrail and Reading projects

Network Rail has given passengers and the people of London a boost by taking a big step forward in the delivery of the Crossrail and Reading projects

It has announced the intention to appoint Bechtel as its delivery partner for these vital congestion busting projects.

This move heralds the biggest investment in improving the railway for passengers using services between London, Bristol and Wales since it was built, and complements Network Rail’s other work to increase capacity and improve performance across the country.

The Crossrail project, together with Thameslink, will, for the first time, allow passengers to use mainline trains across, and through the Capital - north, south, east and west. Network Rail is responsible for the design, development and delivery of the parts of Crossrail that are on the existing network.

Passengers east of London in both Kent and Essex will also benefit from the improvements as Crossrail will extend as far as Shenfield and Abbey Wood.

Network Rail’s £2.3bn of Crossrail work includes:

• Electrifying the western route from London to Maidenhead
• Rebuilding and improving stations on the route including Paddington, Abbey Wood, Ilford, Romford and Ealing Broadway
• Major junction and train reliability improvements

At Reading, the £400m+ scheme will dramatically improve the station and the reliability and punctuality of services accessing and passing through the station by:

• Removing the current bottleneck by constructing a new railway viaduct west of the station thus improving the reliability and punctuality
• Doubling the number of platforms and building a new passenger footbridge and northern entrance to the station

Bechtel will join Network Rail’s team to assist with the delivery of all these important upgrades to the infrastructure.

Robbie Burns, major programme director, Network Rail said: "Passengers and freight users are at the core of our work. These big investment projects at Reading and the Crossrail scheme will deliver dramatic tangible improvements.

"Bechtel has an excellent record of delivery and we welcome them onto our projects to complement our strong in-house team, bringing extra skills and resource."

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