Passengers on the Bakerloo line and London Overground are now benefiting from major improvements to the railway between London Euston and Watford Junction.
The £29 million investment, which was carried out over a five-week closure in July and August, included, Installing 18,000 modern concrete sleepers in place of wooden ones dating back to the 1950s. Work was also carried out upgrading 1km of railway drainage between Harlesden and Stonebridge Park.
Cabling was also part of the programme of works as 48 kilometres of signal cabling was also replaced. Six stations were upgraded along the line also, including Watford High Street, with platform resurfacing and canopy maintenance completed.
Network Rail hope to improve journey reliability in the area with the upgrades and maintenance alongside improving resiliency to bad weather.
James Dean, Network Rail's West Coast South route director, said: "Thanks again to passengers for their patience while we closed the railway so we could carry out these essential projects and improve future journeys between London Euston and Watford Junction.
"It enabled us to update sections of track with new equipment which is much more reliable so people can travel in confidence. We were also able to safely deliver work at six stations during this closure - which although may not be visually obvious to passengers from platform level - was important to protect the structures from bad weather."
Rory O'Neill, TfL's general manager for London Overground, said: "We would like to thank customers again for their continued patience while Network Rail and TfL made these vital infrastructure improvements designed to increase train reliability and customer comfort.
"Our goal is always to provide our customers with the safest and most reliable service possible, and these major improvements will help to ensure we can do just that."
Network Rail continued with its phased approach to upgrades programme meaning construction teams could carry out multiple complex projects at once which would otherwise have taken years of weekend closures and overnight working.
Photo Credit: Network Rail
