01.12.05
New track at New Street station
£9.5 million worth of new track was successfully installed at Birmingham New Street station over the Christmas period.
The essential engineering work, carried out by Network Rail, took nine days, with work beginning on Christmas Day to ensure it was completed in time for commuters’ return to work on 3rd January.
The existing 40 year old track on platforms 7a to 12 at the east side of the station was replaced by hundreds of engineers and track workers, working in sub-zero temperatures.
In 2004 the Birmingham New Street track renewals project replaced track on platforms 1 to 7b. The work at the station was planned in two stages in order to keep the station fully open to ensure customers experienced minimum inconvenience; particularly Christmas and New Year shoppers.
Route Director for Network Rail, Peter Strachan, said, “The successful completion of this project is testimony to the forwarding planning and hard work of the team. A big thank you has to go to all the track workers who gave up their Christmas holidays to get this job done. This major investment will make the track more reliable, providing a better service for passengers who use New Street station.”
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