After two weeks of closures, trackside footage of the first trains travelling over the modernised infrastructure at Hanslope this morning, has been released.
Over 14 days from Christmas Eve, four railway lines along a mile-long section of track between Milton Keynes and Northampton were replaced to improve future journeys for passengers and freight on the West Coast Main Line.
Network Rail and its partner Central Rail Systems Alliance spent nearly a year planning and preparing for the work at Hanslope junction which is used by up to 500 trains per day.
Hundreds of workers replaced 130 track panels across the junction - described as Britain's biggest Christmas jigsaw – renewed the foundation stone known as ballast below the track, and overhauled points, switches and crossings.
During the 11 days of improvement work, teams made the most of the railway closure by completing additional projects on Network Rail’s West Coast South route, including:
- Platform 4 renewal at Milton Keynes Central
A £3.66m project to replace concrete planks and fix uneven surfaces, improving safety and structural integrity. - Platforms 3 & 4 resurfacing at Wolverton Station
Investing over £2m to upgrade platform surfaces and improving stepping distances between train and platform.
“We are investing hundreds of millions of pounds to improve future journeys on the West Coast Main Line and these latest projects will make real differences to passenger and freight journeys," said Christian Irwin OBE, Network Rail North West and Central region Capital Delivery director.
"We would like to thank passengers for their patience during our work at Hanslope, Milton Keynes and Wolverton stations, and also across the wider network this festive season. With our major bridge renewal in Cumbria continuing until 15 January, we’d like to remind people to check before they travel while we make the railway fit for the future."
> At Hanslope in the coming weeks, routine follow up work will take place on Sunday 11 and 25 January to secure the new railway founding stone through a process called tamping, as well as some additional drainage work.
On those two Sundays there will be no trains between Milton Keynes and Northampton/Rugby.
