01.05.06
Upgrades to Waterloo & City line
Source: Rail Technology Magazine April/May 2006
From April, the London Underground’s Waterloo & City line has closed for five months for some much needed engineering improvements to the 107 year old line.
The improvements are part of Transport for London’s (TfL’s) £10 billion five-year Investment Programme to improve and expand London’s transport network. The works will be undertaken by Metronet Rail BCV which is responsible for renewal and maintenance of the Waterloo and & City line.
General Manager of Waterloo & City line, Lance Ramsay, said, “The line has seen an increase in the number of infrastructure related failures leading to unplanned closures and major inconvenience to passengers.”
The entire line is in a tunnel and physically isolated from all other London Underground lines. The whole track in the tunnel between Bank and Waterloo will be replaced and electrical, mechanical, fire protection and communication equipment will be renewed.
The five trains that operate on the line, which have not seen the light of day since they were first lowered into the Waterloo depot in 1993, will be lifted from the line by a 500-tonne mobile crane, to be refurbished in Doncaster and painted in the Underground’s red, white and blue livery.
Seating will be re-upholstered, grab rails will be refurbished and improvements will be made to floors and windows. All carriages will see the installation of CCTV cameras to improve passenger safety and security.
The work aims to reduce journey times as a result of increased service frequency and faster running times.
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