05.05.15
Network Rail completes £50m bank holiday works
Network Rail completed £50m worth of investment and improvement work over the bank holiday weekend, it says.
More than 14,000 men and women worked round-the-clock across hundreds of locations over the weekend, laying new track, building junctions, lifting bridges into place and installing thousands of pieces of new, more reliable equipment.
Crossrail saw some of the major investment as new track and junctions were installed at Slough, and a new bridge was built at Pudding Mill Lane (near Stratford).
New overhead lines and track were also installed near Chadwell Heath and a junction outside Waterloo station was replaced that is intended to improve service reliability.
On the West Coast Main Line work took place around Wolverhampton, Stafford and Crewe. A new, more reliable signalling system was installed between Birmingham and Wolverhampton while new track and overhead lines were installed in and around Stafford. Further new track was also installed between Crewe and Wigan.
In Scotland a new footbridge installed near Motherwell and new track and junctions replaced near Carstairs.
Mark Carne, Network Rail chief executive, said: “Our 14,000-strong army were determined to make sure everything went to plan this weekend and I’m proud to say it did. I’d like to thank people for their patience as I know our work caused some planned disruption.
“The improvements made this weekend are a vital part of our £38bn investment programme which will deliver a better railway in the weeks, months and years ahead.
“That job is far from over. Our orange army will be out tonight and every night carrying out work that’s essential to improving our increasingly congested network and providing better journeys for the four and a half million people who rely on our network each day.”
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