Network Rail puts senior management on site and visible for Easter work shutdown

Network Rail chief executive Mark Carne and managing director for infrastructure projects Francis Paonessa will be on site and highly visible this Easter at the network operator carries out a £100M programme of improvement and investment works.

Antony Oliver
16 March 2015

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Following criticism during the Christmas engineering work overruns when Carne remained on holiday in Cornwall and away from his desk as passenger chaos gripped major London terminals at Kings Cross and Paddington, this Easter holiday both he and Paonessa will remain in and around London to oversee activities.

“Mark actually lives in Cornwall - it's his main residence but this Easter he will be spending most of his time visiting some of our most important, complex and critical work sites both at Reading, and in and around London,” explained a Network Rail spokesman.

“We have thoroughly reviewed our Easter improvement work and worked closely with the train operating companies. The industry has good contingency plans in place that will put passengers first.” Mark Carne, Network Rail chief executive.

He added: “Francis Paonessa, our MD infrastructure projects will be spending most of his time visiting some of our most important, complex and critical work sites both at Reading, and in and around London.”

Some 14,000 workers will spend the Easter break carrying out vital upgrades in and around the London areas, using a series of line closure to accelerate work during this traditionally quiet period on the network.

Top of the list of shutdowns are some of the busiest stations in London and the South East including London Bridge, Liverpool Street, Euston, Watford and Reading, leading to major concerns over post holiday chaos should work overrun as seen at Christmas.

“We have thoroughly reviewed our Easter improvement work and worked closely with the train operating companies,” said Carne. “The industry has good contingency plans in place that will put passengers first.”

The Network Rail spokesman added: “We have thoroughly reviewed our Easter improvement work and worked closely with the train operating companies to put in place robust contingency plans. Each piece of major work has its own specific plans and multiple scenarios and contenders have been worked through to ensure they are fit for purpose and put the passengers first.” 

Work being carried out this Easter include: 

• London Bridge: Continuing work to transform the station carrying out improvements to track, signalling and platforms as part of the £6.5bn programme to upgrade both the station and the entire route 
• Reading: New freight lines will be built under the Reading viaduct to completely separate passenger and freight services, "enabling all those travelling on this route to experience smoother, faster journeys into and through Reading". An entire new signalling system is also being brought on-line replacing the existing one that has brought the route to a halt almost half a dozen times in the recent past 
• Watford: Easter will provide a unique opportunity to replace a worn-out bridge, south of the station. The new bridge will enable line speeds to be increased. The Network Rail team, as part of the £81M scheme will also be replacing old and tired track, signalling and junctions 
• London Liverpool Street: Essential improvements to provide a better, more reliable railway for passengers on the line from London Liverpool Street to Norwich will take place over Easter. New track will be installed at Gidea Park and overhead lines upgraded at Chadwell Heath, Romford and Ilford on the main line. 

According to Network Rail, passenger numbers are up to 40% lower at Easter. However, Carne insisted that following the problems last Christmas it had reviewed its approach to contingency.

“We are acutely conscious that many people want to use the railway during the holidays to reunite with their friends and families, which is why the vast majority of the network is running normally over the holiday period but there will be disruption for some,’ he said.

“I’d like to apologise to any passengers whose plans are affected by our improvement work, but I hope they will understand that this is a quieter time on the railway and we want to minimise the overall impact of these vital projects on passengers.”

“We are acutely conscious that many people want to use the railway during the holidays to reunite with their friends and families, which is why the vast majority of the network is running normally over the holiday period but there will be disruption for some." Mark Carne.

A spokesman for Network Rail pointed out that despite the huge amount of work going on at Easter, 90% of the network would still be available and work had been done to coordinate with other transport operators including the Highways Agency and airports, and replacement services would be available.

He added that work was on-going to assess the best times to interrupt the service.

“We recognise that there is never a good time to carry out these huge, vital projects to improve the railway which is why the Rail Delivery Group is leading a review looking at whether there is a better time,” he said.

“Some of the essential work we need to do, such as demolishing an entire bridge, rebuilding it and putting the railway - foundations, sleepers, rail and overhead power lines - back together, takes many days of work . Only Easter and Christmas presents us with these opportunities where we can have uninterrupted time to work coupled with significant reduction in customer demand.”