RAIL passengers travelling through Oxenholme will have a smoother, more reliable journey following a weekend of upgrade work by Network Rail's orange army.
Engineers worked day and night on the West Coast Main Line at Oxenholme, where it meets the Windermere branch line, over the Bank Holiday to replace life expired track and simplify the track layout to pave the way for more reliable services.
The railway re-opened today with trains once again travelling through the area from midday.
MORE TOP STORIES: Martin Frobisher, route managing director at Network Rail, said: “A large amount of work has taken place over the bank holiday weekend to replace life expired track to improve the track layout in the area, making it easier to maintain and services more reliable for passengers.
“I’d like to thank passengers for their patience while we carried out this investment as part of the Railway Upgrade Plan to deliver a better railway.”
Alex Hynes, managing director for Northern Rail, said: “Investing in local improvements which provide network wide benefits for our customers is great news. It helps contribute to a real improvement in performance and reliability for our customers on this line of route"
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Michelle Ragozzino, Virgin Trains station manager at Oxenholme, said: “More improvement work is scheduled, alongside the ongoing work at Oxenholme, so we advise passengers to check their journey before they travel and leave plenty of time to arrive at the station, as parking will be extremely limited.
"We are working closely with Network Rail to ensure alternative travel arrangements and parking spaces are in place to keep disruption to a minimum.”
More than 9,000 members of Network Rail’s orange army worked across the country over the weekend to deliver vital elements of the company’s Railway Upgrade Plan, which will provide a bigger, better, and more reliable railway for passengers and businesses across Britain.
A total of £30m was invested over three days to renew track, upgrade signalling systems and help boost the capacity of the network so more trains can run in future.
The work was planned to minimise disruption, as passenger numbers typically drop by more than half during a Bank Holiday.
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