OREANDA-NEWS. In spite of the arrival of Storm Katie this weekend, work to upgrade the railway in Essex this Easter was completed, meaning that passengers’ journeys on the line from Norwich to London will be more reliable.

Network Rail’s orange army worked around the clock during the holiday period in some challenging weather conditions, to carry out the work which is part of its Railway Upgrade Plan and is one of the biggest investment programmes ever carried out on Britain’s rail network at Easter.

Despite storm Katie’s disruptive influence, work was completed to install new overhead lines in the Brentwood area which means that they will not sag in the heat of summer and improve general reliability of the railway all year round. Work also took place to replace points at Maryland, Forest Gate and Shenfield which will improve reliability and passenger journeys, making sure that the track is fit for use for years to come.

Network Rail also carried out construction work for the Crossrail project which involved installing new foundations for overhead line structures and track modifications in the Shenfield area, as well as making improvements to footbridges at several stations including Goodmayes and Gidea Park. This complemented the work which took place earlier on in the year to install a new footbridge at Harold Wood and extend platforms at a number of stations on the TfL Rail route.

Network Rail’s route managing director for Anglia, Richard Schofield, said: “The improvements made over Easter will help us deliver a much more reliable railway for those travelling on this important route across Anglia and into London. Preparing for Crossrail is just as important as we look to transform journeys into the Capital.

“I’d like to thank the workers who have given up their weekends and their Easter break to upgrade the railway in appalling weather conditions and make passenger journeys more reliable. I also want to thank passengers for their patience while the railway was closed for the work to be carried out.”

As planned, the railway will close for a further two weekends in April for work to take place between Gidea Park and Chelmsford. This is so that work can take place at Shenfield as part of the Crossrail project and to replace points at Ingatestone, further improving reliability for those travelling to and from London.

On the weekend of Saturday 2 and Sunday 3 April, services will terminate at Chelmsford, where a short rail replacement service will transport passengers to Billericay for trains into London. TfL Rail will run a normal service between London Liverpool Street and Gidea Park, and between Gidea Park and Shenfield a rail replacement service will be in operation.

On the weekend of Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 April, services will terminate at Chelmsford, where a short rail replacement service will transport passengers to Billericay for trains into London.

TfL Rail will run a normal service between London Liverpool Street and Gidea Park, and between Gidea Park and Shenfield a rail replacement service will be in operation.

About Network Rail

Network Rail owns, manages and develops Britain's railway - the 20,000 miles of track, 40,000 bridges and viaducts, and the thousands of signals, level crossings and stations (the largest of which we also run). In partnership with train operators we help people take more than 1.6bn journeys by rail every year - double the number of 1996 - and move hundreds of millions of tonnes of freight, saving almost 8m lorry journeys. We're investing £40bn in the railway by 2019 through our Railway Upgrade Plan to deliver more frequent, more reliable, safer services and brighter and better stations.