West Coast main line reopens following Watford upgrade

Network Rail has completed several major upgrades in the first of three August closures of the West Coast main line.

Britain’s busiest rail corridor reopened today (August 11) following a weekend closure to carry out signalling and track renewals between Kings Langley and Bushey near Watford.

Two more weekend closures will take place between August 16-18 and 23-25.

The August closures are part of a series of eight weekend and bank holiday blockades being undertaken by Network Rail until April 2015  to improve the line’s reliability.

Jim Syddall, acting route managing director for Network Rail, said: “The first stage of this month’s work has been successfully completed but there is still a significant amount left to do over the next two weekends.

“The section of track at Watford is one of the most intensively used, high-speed pieces of railway in Britain and has seen tremendous growth in traffic and passengers over the last five years.

“There is never a good time to close the railway and we apologise for the inconvenience caused but this work is essential to maintain reliable train services for the millions of passengers who travel on this route every year.”