Upgrades completed on Berkhamsted rail line as part of £20m improvement project

Today (6 January), the train body has confirmed that upgrades have been made to the narrow Victorian tunnel on the West Coast Main line near Berkhamsted.

These changes form one phase of a larger £20m package being delivered by Network Rail on services between London and Scotland.

Network Rail says hundreds of engineers and contractors worked extensive hours over Christmas and New Year to complete the project.

Other parts of the operation included:

-Improving train signalling through Crewe with the completion of a two-year scheme to upgrade a major freight depot and the lines which connect it to the West Coast Main Line

-Engineers completed the electrification of a line between Wigan and Bolton, with 25,000-volt overhead lines which will soon power trains were switched on for the first time

-A temporary scaffold bridge was constructed to divert important utility services from the Greek Street roundabout in Stockport ahead of its replacement next summer

-Upgraded overhead line equipment in Central Manchester and on the West Coast Main Line

-Improved track quality around the Birmingham New Street station area

-Track drainage and upgrade work near Milton Keynes and upgrades between Watford and Milton Keynes

Phil James, Network Rail’s North West route director, said: “Over the holidays season, many of our colleagues across the route, region and supply chain were out in force on the railway delivering a £20m package of upgrades.

“The completed mammoth projects, which included the modernisation the traffic lights of the railway and overhead line equipment in Crewe, the start of works to rebuild a overbridge on Stockport’s high street and the electrification of the Wigan to Lostock Junction railway, were designed to drive up the reliability of passenger and freight services right across the West Coast Main Line and into Greater Manchester.

“While these upgrades were delivered as a package to prevent journeys being disrupted on consecutive weekends throughout the year, we are grateful to passengers for their patience while bus service replacements were in operation across some parts of the network.”

More details can be found online here.