This Early May bank holiday, our teams worked across Britain carrying out £75m of essential engineering works. It’s part of our mission to bring you a safer, more reliable and modern railway.
Here’s a rundown of some of what we got up to.
New stations
We continued building the new Cambridge South station and Beaulieu Park station in Essex.
Our teams carried out track and overhead line works at Shepreth Branch Junction in preparation for connecting it to Cambridge South.
Meanwhile, we made great progress on building the new Beaulieu Park station, with prep for the internal walls, drainage, installation of the canopies and more underway.
The new stations will give you more leisure, work and education opportunities.
Drainage
Climate change and very wet weather means drainage remains a priority in a lot of our work.
In fact, we installed huge recast concrete catch pits on the West Coast Main Line in Crewe. These huge chambers are part of a new drainage system to help reduce flooding.
Engineers also replaced 400 metres of drainage pipes and catch pits in Berkswell in Solihull. We also renewed drainage at Golborne in Greater Manchester.
Drainage upgrades like this help improve the resilience of our railway against wet weather and keep your journeys smooth and more reliable.
Electrification
We installed a new parapet – or protective wall – for Chulsey Gate bridge in Greater Manchester as part of the Wigan to Bolton electrification. Electrifying this line between Wigan and Bolton is part of a £78m investment that will lead to smoother and greener journeys.
Projects like this help make it possible for electric trains to travel on more areas of the railway. Electric trains are better for the environment than diesel trains, and they’re quieter for those on board and those living near the track.
Track upgrades
Maintaining 20,000 miles of track every single day, all year around means track renewals are essential.
This long weekend, our teams renewed track around Coventry, Liverpool, Wembley, Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire and Stafford in Staffordshire to name a few locations. This work will help keep your trains and freight running smoothly and safely.
Junctions
We upgraded a junction between East Tilbury and Stanford-le-Hope in Essex. It’s not only crucial for the reliability of your c2c Rail services but it also takes freight trains on the branch line to and from a major port.
Ledburn Junction in Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire also got some essential track maintenance. This will mean safer and more reliable journeys on this part of the West Coast Main Line that runs north out of London Euston.
Our teams also renewed the switches and crossings – these are the moveable sections of track that allows trains to change tracks – at Aldershot Junction in Hampshire.