Region to benefit from £40m West Coast upgrades

NETWORK Rail has announced details of a series of projects, worth nearly £40m, aimed at improving the reliability of the West Coast Main Line, Britain’s busiest mixed-use railway line.

New junctions and track will be installed over 18 miles near Wigan in July, but most of the work covers the section of line between Rugby and London.

It will involve overhead line improvements and new security fencing to reduce delays caused by trespass and vandalism. However, not all the work is new as many of the projects are already under way.

The timing of the announcement comes just two days before the Chancellor is expected to outline an additional £11.5bn of cutbacks across all Government departments.

Dyan Crowther, route managing director, Network Rail said: “We are not satisfied with the current performance of our infrastructure on the southern end of the West Coast main line, which is one of Britain’s most vital rail arteries.

“This line has seen tremendous growth in traffic and passengers over the last five years and, just like a busy motorway during rush hour, more trains mean that if something goes wrong, the knock on effects can be significant.

“We have identified almost £40m worth of investment aimed at improving performance by targeting some of the most common causes of delay. Some of the measures will be delivered in a few short months while others are more long-term.”

Chris Gibb, chief operating officer at Virgin Trains, said: “I am pleased that Network Rail has decided to progress all the recommendations and make a £40m investment to improve performance on the southern end of West Coast Main Line for our customers. Already we are starting to see that investment actually taking place but both Network Rail and the train operators need to keep the pressure on to ensure that lasting improvements in performance are achieved.”