Network Rail gears up for Christmas engineering work
NETWORK Rail is preparing for its annual programme of Christmas engineering work, with projects taking place across the country.
In southern England, track upgrades are taking place in Southampton at Mount Pleasant Road, next to the River Itchen.
The routes between Southampton Airport Parkway and Southampton Central and between Fareham and Southampton Central will be closed from December 24 to January 1, with major alterations to services. This forms part of an £8 million investment in infrastructure in the area.
In Scotland, overhead catenary will be replaced at various locations around Glasgow, new tracks will be laid on parts of the West Coast Main Line and between Edinburgh and Glasgow, and a junction in Lanarkshire will be renewed.
Overhead line electrification works will also take place on the Stirling-Alloa-Dunblane route, while Edinburgh Waverley’s track and platform upgrade will continue (see page 12).
Elsewhere, the West Coast Main Line will be closed between Preston and Lancaster from Christmas Eve until December 27, while no trains will run between Manchester Piccadilly and Oxford Road on December 24, and on December 30-January 1.
In London, the route between Charing Cross, Cannon Street, Waterloo East and London Bridge will be closed between December 23 and January 1 as Thameslink works near completion.
An amended timetable will run between Paddington and Ealing Broadway on December 23.
This means London Bridge’s extensive remodelling will be virtually complete, with the final section of the new concourse and Platforms 1-5 opened at the end of the blockade.
From December 24-27, no Great Western Railway trains will run between Paddington and Slough, and from December 28-30, an amended timetable will operate between the two points.
Crossrail works continue, with no Greater Anglia trains running between Liverpool Street and Ingatestone/Billericay from December 23 to January 1, and no TfL Rail trains running between Liverpool Street and Shenfield on the same dates.