TENS of thousands of railway engineers are to work ‘around-the-clock’ this Christmas to improve the UK’s rail network.
Network Rail said that the festive period represents a ‘unique’ opportunity to undertake bigger pieces of work due to fewer people travelling – with the number of passengers typically dropping 50-60% in the seven days between Christmas and New Year.
During this timeframe, some 45 sets of points will be replaced, four bridges rebuilt, 40km of new signalling cables installed, 17 level crossings renewed, and new signalling systems will be tested and switched on.
Helen Hamlin, Network Rail’s director of system operations, said, “The festive period is a unique opportunity, when fewer people are travelling, to do big pieces of work to make services better, more punctual and more reliable.
“The major projects we’re undertaking would otherwise take many weekends to complete and cause much more disruption. Whilst roads are busier during the holidays, it’s actually one of the quietest times on the railway, meaning we can improve things whilst causing less disruption to passengers and freight flows.
“Most of the railway will be open as normal over Christmas and New Year, so passengers can go ahead and book their travel – timetables will start to go live this weekend. Just be sure to plan ahead as there will be significant changes to journeys on some key routes.”
