11.01.18
‘Essential’ Brighton Main Line upgrade to kick off in October 2018
Major improvement works to the Brighton Main Line will be delivered towards the end of 2018 and early 2019, it was announced today.
The upgrade to the southern end of the line is part of a £300m programme to tackle delays for commuters in the south east.
It is hoped that the improvements will create a more reliable railway for the 300,000 customers who regularly travel along the route.
Work to the line has been a long time coming, after the DfT stated in March 2017 that the Brighton Main Line was a “strategic priority”, adding that improvements to the line were necessary to improve services.
A joint announcement by Network Rail and GTR, who operate the line, said that no trains will run from Saturday 20 – Sunday 28 October 2018 and Saturday 16 February - Sunday 24 February between Three Bridges and Brighton, to let engineers get to work on the upgrade.
The work will hone in on four Victorian-era tunnels (Balcombe Clayton, Patcham and Haywards Heath) and the rails that run through them to address drainage problems, as well as replace rail power and signalling systems.
“This is a long-overdue upgrade to one of the most unreliable parts of the south east’s rail network,” said NR’s managing director for the south east route, John Halsall. “Southern and Thameslink passengers deserve better and this work will help us deliver that for them.
“We’re giving people as much notice as possible to enable them to start thinking ahead, particularly as we know many people will already be making plans for the rest of the year.
“We’ll continue to work closely with GTR, Transport Focus and passenger groups to make sure passengers get the best possible service during these two planned closures and we keep disruption to a minimum.”
Keith Jipps, GTR infrastructure director, admitted that the route was the most congested and intensively used in the country, and that NR’s work was essential to ensuring future services ran on-time.
“We’ll be ensuring there are multiple options for passengers to make their journeys, including alternative transport to other rail stations and with other train operators,” he concluded.
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