Passengers told to plan ahead as £200m Derby resignalling works begin

Network Rail, CrossCountry and East Midlands Trains are reminding passengers to plan ahead as the biggest rail upgrade in the region in decades begins.

The £200m investment at Derby station began on Sunday, 22 July and runs until Sunday, 7 October.

The upgrade will see the layout altered, which Network Rail says will remove an existing bottleneck and improve services for passengers. The signalling will also be upgraded. The investment is part of the biggest upgrade of the Midland Main Line since it opened in 1870, which the organisation says will support better journeys between Sheffield, Derby, Nottingham and London.

Network Rail, CrossCountry and East Midlands Trains have worked together to create www.derby2018.co.uk, a dedicated website where passengers can see how their journey is affected and download their timetable.

Rob McIntosh, route managing director for Network Rail, said: “We’re reminding passengers to plan ahead and check before they travel as this once in a generation project gets underway. We’d like to thank passengers for their patience whilst this work takes place and apologise in advance for any inconvenience caused.

“We are working closely with East Midlands Trains and CrossCountry to keep disruption to a minimum whilst this vital work takes place and we look forward to passengers seeing the benefits.

“It has taken months of careful planning to get us to this point but now we are just over a week away from the start of this major engineering project which will bring a more efficient, reliable and modern network fit to meet the needs of the economies and communities our railway serves.”

Jake Kelly, managing director, East Midlands Trains, added: “A huge amount of work has taken place behind the scenes to get everything ready for 22nd July to make sure customers are at the heart of planning this project. We will have extra staff and volunteers on hand as well as new signage to help customers find their way as easily and as conveniently as possible.

“I would urge anyone who hasn’t already done so, to visit our website, derby2018.co.uk, or pick up a timetable in stations and plan their journey before setting off.”

Andy Cooper, CrossCountry managing director said: “It has been several years in the planning, but at last the major investment to renew track signalling at Derby is about to start. We have worked hard with colleagues at Network Rail and East Midlands Trains to minimise the impact on those travelling to or from Derby and those just passing through.

“Many train services have been diverted but inevitably some road transport has to be used to link Derby to the railway network whilst the works are undertaken. We recognise this is inconvenient and offer thanks in advance for bearing with us. We hope the benefits from the massive investment in terms of journey times and service performance will be welcome. Information about changes to train services can be found at www.derby2018.co.uk.”