The railway line from London to Norwich is set to benefit from a major package of upgrades worth £170m next year, providing a better, more reliable railway for passengers.
In addition to upgrades of the overhead lines, track and signalling, one of Network Rail’s fleet of ‘high output’ machines will start working its way along the line from January to improve the reliability of the railway while also providing a smoother ride for passengers. More information about the High Output machine is available below in the Question and Answer section.
Key projects on the Great Eastern Main Line in 2015 also include:
- Overhead line upgrade: Engineers continue to upgrade 60-year-old equipment to improve reliability along the Great Eastern Main Line. In 2015, work in the Chelmsford area will be completed.
- Witham: Network Rail is installing new track and points at Witham. Points allow trains to move from one part of the track to another.
- Colchester: Engineers are returning to Colchester to complete the second part of this project which commenced in 2014. Network Rail is remodelling the track and installing new sets of points, to deliver a more reliable railway to passengers.
- Crossrail: Work continues to transform travel for commuters and longer-distance passengers between London, Essex and beyond. The additional passenger capacity and renewed stations will mean major, long-term improvements. Brand new trains will replace the existing trains used on stopping services from Shenfield to London from 2017.
Work on these key projects will take place during eight weekends between the beginning of February and the end of March in addition to Easter and May bank holidays. In 2015, there are currently no plans for any major disruptive engineering work on the Great Eastern Main Line between May and the end of the year, which would require any significant amount of bus replacement service during weekends on both Saturday and Sunday.