At the end of August Network Rail will conduct a series of planned works whilst taking a giant leap forward in its digital signalling program with the turning on of 116 signals in South West London. This 4-year signalling upgrade program will be concluded in 2024 with the completion & upgrading of key signalling equipment which is controlled by the Feltham Area Signalling Centre & Wokingham Signalling box.
This major resignalling scheme also forms part of reducing Network Rail’s overall carbon footprint and after 13 level crossing have been renewed or upgraded will also serve to improve train performance. Not only has Network Rail been working in the South it has also been working on a wider digital signals programme on the East Coast Main Line, which is expected to save a further 55 thousand tonnes of carbon dioxide when fully operational.
Wessex route director Mark Killick said: “At the end of this month, we will reach a significant milestone of our wider Feltham and Wokingham resignalling programme with the switching on of the new signals on the Windsor Lines.
“Our engineers will be working tirelessly over this forthcoming 14-day period to commission the new signals, which we know will help improve reliability and reduce the likelihood of delays on this important stretch of railway.”
Network Rail’s upgrades to the area follow the news that similar work in South London had reduced delays by 55% since being switched on last Christmas.
According to the organisation, delays dropped from a peak of 4,000 per month to as low as 1,800 per month on the lines between Balham, Clapham Junction, and London Victoria.
Sussex route director Lucy McAuliffe said: “Investment in the railway is vital to delivering safe and reliable services for our passengers.
“Our investment to upgrade the signalling and track in South London is really bearing fruit with delays being reduced by a whopping 55% on lines into London Victoria – that’s as much as 36 hours a month that passengers weren’t stuck on trains for longer than they needed to be.”
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