Posted 16th March 2015 | 2 Comments

Network Rail to deploy Easter army of 14,000

NETWORK RAIL has revealed that engineering works over the Easter holiday will involve 14,000 people and more than £100 million worth of investment.

Following the problems with engineering overruns after Christmas, the infrastructure owner is emphasising that transport is being co-ordinated to ensure that 'Britain keeps moving' over Easter, even though fewer people than usual use the railways because most commuters do not travel.

The work includes more reconstruction at London Bridge and the installation of freight lines under the recently-opened viaduct at Reading. A bridge over the West Coast Main Line will be replaced at Watford Junction, while overhead lines will be renewed at Chadwell Heath, Romford and Ilford on the Great Eastern Main Line.

Network Rail chief executive Mark Carne said:  “Our improvement programme this Easter, delivered by a 14,000 strong army of rail workers, is focussed on delivering a better service for passengers.  We are acutely conscious that many people want to use the railway during the holidays to reunite with their friends and families, which is why the vast majority of the network is running normally over the holiday period but there will be disruption for some.

“I’d like to apologise to any passengers whose plans are affected by our improvement work, but I hope they will understand that this is a quieter time on the railway and we want to minimise the overall impact of these vital projects on passengers.”

Reader Comments:

Views expressed in submitted comments are that of the author, and not necessarily shared by Railnews.

  • J Campbell, Birmingham

    Lets hope they have not planned to do more than possible in the time, that they have made an allowance for severe weather and that they will check and double check on what equipment is needed when and where or we'll end up with work not finished on time AGAIN.
    All things that can cause projects to over run. With the amount planned this Easter, I predict that one of them WILL over run.

  • Steven Antonio, Cornwall

    Good news? Sounds like it, I hope that this army will be as 'nocturnal' as possible!