01.08.16
Upgrades on track at Paddington
Work to upgrade Paddington station to prepare for Crossrail and the electrification of the Great Western Main Line is on track, Network Rail and Transport for London have said.
Bakerloo Line services to Paddington will start again after work to renew thousands of moving components in the station escalators finished two weeks ahead of schedule.
The work will allow the escalators to operate for a further twenty years.
Mark Wild, managing director of London Underground, said: “I’d like to thank passengers for the patience they’ve shown while we have carried out this vital modernisation work at Paddington Tube station.”
In order to keep disruption to a minimum, engineers used the existing closure to dig a new 165m tunnel under the station.
The tunnel has connections at platform level for the escalators and a lift so that customers will be able to interchange between the Bakerloo Line and Crossrail once it is operational.
The next major stage of London Underground’s modernisation, a programme to resignal the Circle, District, Metropolitan and Hammersmith & City lines, is also underway.
Platform 14 at Paddington has also been expanded and electrified ahead of the introduction of the Bombardier Class 387 Electrostars on the Great Western Main Line from September, as well as electric trains between Hayes & Harlington and Paddington.
The work on the platform, the first to be electrified at the station in 20 years, began in November, with the platform’s length being extended over the Christmas period.
It continued this year, with the cutting back of the platform canopies, the introduction of overhead line equipment and electric wires and modifications to signalling systems.
Matthew Steele, Crossrail programme director at Network Rail, said: “The work has been extremely complex because of the historical nature of the station and the need for collaboration between Network Rail, Transport for London and Great Western Railway ensured that the project was delivered successfully.”
Crossrail, named the Elizabeth Line after the queen, is due to start operating from Paddington in December 2018, leading to a predicted increase in passenger numbers at the station from 165,000 a day to 248,000.
Last week RTM saw the first Crossrail train, Class 345, take to the test track at Bombardier’s facility in Derby.
(Image c.Network Rail)
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