Earlier today, Monday, 5th January, South Western Railway (SWR) train services started running again between London Waterloo and Clapham Junction after Network Rail completed its Christmas engineering work to upgrade the line.
The line between London Waterloo and Clapham Junction is one of the busiest railway lines in the country.
It had been closed since Christmas Day to allow more than 350 engineers working around the clock in the Queenstown Road area of Battersea to upgrade the track.
To carry out the upgrade, the following work was required:
- Renewal of approximately 1,000 metres of the track forming the running line and the electrified third rail.
- Replacement of the associated switches and crossings that enable trains to change tracks.
- Upgrading the signalling and power supplies.
- Installing new sleepers and ballast.
- Realigning the platforms at Queenstown Road station to accommodate the upgraded layout of the track.
The Christmas period was chosen to carry out the work, as there are significantly fewer passengers travelling, meaning it is the ideal time to complete these vital upgrades, as it is the least disruptive to the travelling public.
If the work had not been carried out over Christmas, it would have required closure of the lines over eight separate weekends.
To enable further maintenance to take place in the area, the line between London Waterloo and Clapham Junction will require partial closure on the weekends of Saturday and Sunday, 10th and 11th January, and 31st January and 1st February.
Passengers planning to travel on those weekends should consult South Western Railway’s journey planner at southwesternrailway.com/plan-my-journey.
Engineering work over Christmas also affected some services out of London Paddington.
“I’d like to thank passengers for their patience and understanding while we carried out these essential upgrades at London Waterloo. The improvements will make one of the busiest stretches of railway in the country more resilient, and customers can expect fewer faults and delays, together with smoother and more reliable journeys.”
George Murrell, Network Rail Wessex Route Renewals Director, speaking on behalf of South Western Railway
Responses
And more Class 701 Arterio trains have entered service with the Class 455 to end their life with South Western Railway and to be scrapped. I wonder if SWR could keep the Class 458 to use them on the Alton and Aldershot service and some to be used on Portsmouth & Southsea-Southampton Central shuttle.