03.01.18
Services return between London and Carlisle following upgrade
A series of track and signalling upgrades has been completed between London Euston and Carlisle, allowing the line to fully reopen.
Network Rail (NR) closed sections of track between the two stations as engineers completed track renewals, signal upgrades and bridge refurbishment as part of the wider Railway Upgrade Plan.
The majority of work was completed in the period between Christmas Day and the beginning of the New Year, with upgrades on a section between Birmingham New Street and Wolverhampton at the centre of the project.
Remodelling work at Soho North junction
Martin Frobisher, London North Western route managing director at NR, thanked travellers for their patience as the infrastructure owner completed this latest round of upgrades.
“We understand that work of this magnitude can be disruptive,” he commented. “However, the upgrades carried out by Team Orange will help deliver a bigger, better and more reliable railway to meet the ever-increasing demand for rail travel in future.”
Along with work around Birmingham New Street, NR also completed track renewal at both Crick Tunnel between Northampton and Rugby, and on two platforms at Manchester Piccadilly station.
The latter was part of the Great North Rail Project, a programme which also included further work at Liverpool Lime Street – one of the stations which was subject to extensive upgrade work last year, as senior project manager Sean Hyland wrote about for RTM in November.
In addition, waterproofing work was completed on the Trent and Mersey Canal Bridge on the West Coast Main Line and the Wyre Viaduct was upgraded, also as part of Great North Rail.
Images: Network Rail
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