Network Rail has announced that number of planned upgrades will take place in Kent, Surrey and South London over the Easter weekend, as part of a wider £89m programme of investment across the country, which will see many improvements to track and signalling.
At Willingdon Junction in Eastbourne, a £2.2m investment in the local infrastructure will include renewing the switches and crossings, installing new points and heating equipment to support their continued reliable running during the cold winter months.
Alongside this, 750m of third rail will be renewed and 2,300 tonnes of new ballast and 450 new concrete sleepers will be installed.
In the South Croydon area, Whyteleafe level crossing will be upgraded with new electrical circuits while between Balham and Beckenham Junction, engineers will be replacing life-expired switches and crossings as well as carrying out wheel timber renewals and preparing the area for the installation of the new signalling system in the future.
Between Brixton Junction and Denmark Hill, work to support the new signalling will be completed with the installation of a new signal gantry across the track. This work is part of a major package of upgrades to modernise 1980s track and signalling on the South London lines into London Victoria. During the line closure, some switches and crossings will also be refurbished.
At Hither Green, work to stabilise the embankment will see a 115m sheet pile wall installed, protecting the railway from soil and other debris falling from the embankment onto the railway and improving reliability. The track in this area will also be refurbished including replacing the ballast.
Lucy McAuliffe, Network Rail’s Sussex route director, said:
“We’re grateful to our passengers for their patience whilst we carry out essential work over the Easter period. We carry out a large amount of our work during Easter as passenger numbers are lower, so we disrupt fewer journeys.”
Photo Credit: Network Rail
