Network Rail and South Western Railway have completed the final phase of the installation of the signalling system on Feltham – Wokingham rail section delivering more reliable journeys to customers travelling between Reading, London and Guildford.
GBP 375 million (EUR 439 million) is the value of the resignalling five-year project of work to bring the 1970s signalling equipment up to modern standards.
AtkinsRéalis was appointed by Network Rail to deliver the resignalling programme, including project management, design, construction, and commissioning of the new system.
“The Feltham-Wokingham resignalling programme was a complex project which required extensive collaboration across the supply chain and with our client Network Rail. “The modern signalling system provides advanced fault detection and prediction capabilities, meaning this key passenger and freight network now provides improved levels of reliability and safety,” Scott Kelley, managing director for AtkinsRéalis said.
During the most recent nine-day closure, engineers worked around the clock to install 43 new signals, as well as upgrade two level crossings at Wokingham station and Easthampstead Road (Star Lane) and renew a double railway junction at Wokingham.
Now complete, customers will benefit from a modern digitalised signalling system on Feltham – Wokingham rail section that will help improve train performance, increase future capacity, result in fewer delays, and enhance the safety of level crossings.
As part of the five-year programme, Network Rail moved control of the signalling equipment between Feltham and Wokingham and transferred it to Basingstoke, into the Rail Operating Centre (ROC), as well as upgraded 16 level crossings and installed 500 pieces of signalling equipment, which covers 80 miles of railway across Feltham, Hounslow, Shepperton, Twickenham, Windsor & Eton Riverside and Wokingham.
Moving control to the ROC allows signallers to communicate more effectively with each other as they are in the same room rather than remote signal boxes and is more cost efficient to operate.
“It’s fantastic to see the completion of our Feltham to Wokingham resignalling programme. We’ve worked closely with SWR and our contractors over the past five years to bring the signalling system up to modern standards. The new digital signals have replaced the old equipment which became unreliable and harder to maintain and the new state of the art signalling will improve the reliability of this key stretch of railway and in turn help reduce delays for our customers,” Matt Pocock, Network Rail’s Wessex route director, said.
The Feltham area signalling centre and Wokingham signal box jointly covers 80 miles (128.7 km) of railway and 500 separate pieces of signalling equipment, on key areas of the South Western Railway (SWR) network including Feltham, Hounslow, Shepperton, Twickenham, Windsor & Eton Riverside and Wokingham.
Share on:
