Rundown railways in the West
are being given a £750 million revamp, we can
reveal.
In an exclusive interview with the
Western Daily Press, regional Network Rail supremo
Robbie Burns admitted the region had been
short-changed in the past.
But he said commuters and travellers will
soon reap the benefit of millions of pounds being
spent on better track.
Among the
improvements will be a better service between
Bristol and the West and London Paddington, and
work to build a third platform at Bristol
Parkway.
Other areas to benefit include
Worle junction, in Weston-super-Mare.
"In
the early Nineties fewer people were using the
network so no money was spent in the Western
area," said Mr Burns, Network Rail's route
director for the Western region.
"Now we're
reversing that trend."
Commuters have been
promised a railway fit for the 21st century after
rail chiefs unveiled plans for a £750 million
revamp of the region's ailing network.
Network Rail, which looks after the
infrastructure of Britain's railways, admitted the
region had long suffered a lack of
investment.
But bosses vowed to put things
right with a massive programme of refurbishment
across the Western region over the next three
years.
Robbie Burns, Network Rail's route
director for the Western region, acknowledged that
the West's railway had suffered from
under-investment for the best part of 25
years.
Mr Burns said a steady programme of
refurbishment and upgrades would see passengers
benefit from better performance by train companies
and fewer delays.
Major track improvement
work was carried out on the mainline between the
West and London Paddington at Wootton Bassett,
Wiltshire, in August this year.
Mr Burns
promised it was just the beginning of a three-year
scheme that would help Network Rail's Western
region get up to speed with other parts of
Britain's railways.
"It's all about
catching up," said Mr Burns, whose office is a
stone's throw from Swindon railway station. "Five
years ago we were delivering pretty modest levels
of work on the West's network. In 2001, just
before Network Rail was established, we delivered
only 11 sets of new points in our
region.
"When you consider there are 3,000
sets of points on our route, we knew if we carried
on at that rate we would have a serious
problem.
"We have increased work across the
route by a factor of four for repairing and
replacing tracks, and by a factor of 10 for points
which means we'll be replacing 100 sets this
year."
Railway points have a life span of
about 40 years but, on average, those in the West
are significantly older than those in other parts
of the country.
In addition, the average
age of the rails which West trains run on are also
worryingly higher than in other parts of
Britain.
The average age of railway lines
in the Western area is 32.5 years, compared with
28 years on Network Rail's London North East area
and 26.8 years in the London North West
area.
Meanwhile, nearly half of the track
of the rejuvenated West Coast Main Line between
London and Glasgow was laid after
1998.
"The West has suffered from
under-investment for the best part of 25 years,"
Mr Burns conceded. "Rail put on the ground in the
late 1960s and early Seventies is now pretty much
life-expired."
The network Mr Burns is
responsible for covers a huge area from London
Paddington to Swansea as well as the route through
Bristol, Somerset and Devon, down to Penzance in
Cornwall. It also goes into mid-Wales and as far
north as Hereford.
"In total, we're
responsible for 3,215 miles of track, 387 stations
and nearly 13,000 bridges," he
explained.
"For a variety of historical
reasons, a lot of money has been invested into the
West Coast Main Line, while money also went into
upgrading the East Coast Main Line.
"But in
the early Nineties fewer people were using the
network so no money was spent in the Western
area.
"We're reversing that trend, however.
I feel that it's now our time."
Mr Burns'
masterplan includes building extra platforms at
Reading station, a notorious bottleneck which
creates a knock-on effect for people travelling
between the West and Paddington.
ON the
Cotswold line, part of which is single track,
trains running between Oxford and Hereford will
benefit from a new dynamic loop line that will
allow more trains to pass each
other.
Elsewhere, work to build a third
platform at Bristol Parkway is scheduled to start
in January next year.
In 2008, work will be
carried out at Worle junction to make it easier
for trains to cross the busy mainline to enter the
Weston-super- Mare loop. It will help cut journey
times. The next major phase of engineering work,
taking place between Highbridge and Burnham and
Taunton stations, will begin later this month and
cost £10 million.
Some 10,000 metres of new
track and sleepers will be laid and ballast will
be cleaned and replaced.
The work will mean
the line will be closed between the two Somerset
stations from Monday, November 20, to Friday,
December 8.
Passengers on some services
between will be diverted via Bath
Spa.
Replacement bus services will transfer
passengers on other services between Taunton and
Highbridge and Burnham.
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