More news about Britain’s railway industry - the new Bermondsey Dive Under finally comes into use!
From Network Rail
Passengers have been thanked for
their patience after a busy programme of improvement work took place across the
south east over the last two weeks.
Network Rail spent almost £11m over the holiday
period as part of its Railway Upgrade Plan, with more than 2,600 staff working hard round-the-clock out on the
tracks in the south east and 24,000
across the country.
This Christmas, the Thameslink
Programme brought the first tracks
through the Bermondsey Dive Under into use. Similar to a motorway
underpass, the Bermondsey Dive Under
is a brand new railway junction that will untangle
the tracks on the eastern approach to London Bridge station.
Currently, as trains from Sussex
and Kent approach London Bridge, the railway lines intersect at a series of
junctions, causing congestion and creating delays. The new line, which will be
used by Southern trains, offers a glimpse of the future where there will be six
new lines in total running over and through the dive-under, serving Southern, Southeastern and Thameslink
passengers.
From 2018, the new junction will
allow Southeastern and Southern trains
to ‘dive under’ the newly built lines that will be used by Thameslink services, improving the travel experience for millions
of passengers travelling to and through the landmark new station.
Elsewhere, Network Rail’s teams
of engineers worked across the south east for an incredible 28,000 hours, sacrificing Christmas with their families
to improve the railway that 510 million passenger journeys rely on each year.
The projects included laying new drains deep underground in Sevenoaks Tunnel, replacing a worn-out junction at New Cross,
repairing a bridge at Lewisham,
putting in a new bridge span at Purley,
laying new rail at St John’s in south
east London, and refurbishing several sets of points, which allow trains to
cross from one track to another, between Swanley and Bickley.
Network Rail South East route
managing director, John Halsall, said: “We appreciate the patience shown by
passengers while we continued our Railway Upgrade Plan over Christmas and the
New Year.
“The hard work by our teams
across the south east will make a real difference to our passengers, especially
those who will use the Bermondsey Dive Under which will allow more trains to
run while reducing delays on this busy stretch of railway.
“It is a privilege to do the job
that we do and we are absolutely focussed on continuing to work hard to improve
our railway.”
Southeastern Managing Director,
David Statham, said: “I would like to thank our passengers for their patience
over the festive period when Network Rail carried out vital improvement work.
“There is no ideal time to carry
out major work and we appreciate this can disrupt people’s journeys, but this
can only realistically be done during holiday periods, when fewer people
travel.
“Massive investment is being
made in our railways so we can improve journeys and secure increased rail
capacity for the future. We encourage our passengers to always check before
they travel at weekends as improvement work continues to take place.”
Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) Chief Operating Officer, Nick Brown, said: “Investment in the railway
is vital to improving services for our passengers and we’re pleased to see this
latest element of the Thameslink
Programme completed. In 2018, it will give Thameslink services a clear run
into London Bridge, reducing delays and enabling the 24 train-per-hour high
intensity service between Blackfriars and St Pancras.”
I’d like to add that the Govia
Thameslink Railway and Southeastern
franchises are owned by Govia.
Go Ahead owns 65% whilst Keolis owns 35% of Govia’s stake.
You can find out more about the
Thameslink Programme here.
As always, I invite you to follow me on Twitter and Google Plus
which is @CLondoner92
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