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INFRASTRUCTURE
BASINGSTOKE
BLOCKADE
Lines through Basingstoke have just re-opened after closing to move
tracks and update signalling.Paul Clifton reports on the challenges of
getting the work done on time – despite a major theft of materials – and
organising alternative transport
Paul Clifton
Network Rail has completed a 10-day
blockade of the railway lines through
Basingstoke. The track and signalling
project has taken more than three years of
planning, but caused unprecedented disruption
to tens of thousands of commuters each day.
South West Trains provided more than 90 buses
to get passengers around the blockade.
It had advertised the problems for six months
in advance – and many travellers heeded the
warnings. Up to one in three commuters opted
to avoid heading to London. Some took a week’s
extra leave after Easter, others worked from
home rather than face interrupted journeys of
up to an hour longer than usual each way.
‘We had up to 800 people working on the
track each day,’ says Mark Somers, senior project
manager for Network Rail. He’d been preparing
for the shutdown since being appointed in 2004.
‘It’s the biggest blockade we’ve had in 40 years,
Senior project manager Mark Somers had been preparing
for the shutdown since he was first appointed in 2004.
and we are replacing worn-out equipment that’s
40 years old. It’s a once-in-a-generation scheme,
so hopefully we won’t be back here for another
40 years!’
Closing the lines at Basingstoke affected
passengers across a swathe of southern England.
It’s where the route from Waterloo to Exeter
diverges at Worting Junction from the main line
to Winchester, Southampton and Bournemouth.
It also closed Great Western Junction and the
line to Reading used by Virgin, First Great
Western, South West Trains and the many freight
services from Southampton docks. Freight was
diverted via Salisbury and Westbury, while some
passenger trains from Southampton were routed
via Havant.
The tracks at Great Western Junction just
north of Basingstoke station were moved one
metre to the west.
‘That will allow the line speed across the
junction to be increased from 15 mph to 25mph,’
Somers explained. ‘It might not sound much.
But the freight trains through here are more than
a quarter of a mile long. And they often have to
cross over the fast lines to reach the down slow
to Southampton, holding up every other train in
Basingstoke. We’re also installing new diamond
crossings north and south of the station, which
will give signallers more flexibility. And we’re
signalling all four through platforms for bidirectional
working.’
Line speeds on the fast lines through the
station are also being increased from 65 to
90mph. The closure, which started on Good
Friday, is part of a £130m project.
‘It is extremely challenging,’ admits Somers. ‘I
put a programme in place in October 2004. We
started work here in January 2006. We’ve built a
complete new signalling control centre, we’ve
renewed more than 30 sets of points and we’ve
installed new track, gantries, and signals in the
last 14 months. We’ve seen probably about
750,000 man-hours on site so far and that doesn’t
include the p-way works.
David Pape, Network Rail’s route director
adds: ‘We’ve done a lot of the points over the last
nine months. We had short closures over the
Easter and May Bank Holidays last year and
again in October and November. This time we’re
completing the track work east and west of
Basingstoke station. We’re renewing the switches
and crossings at Worting Junction, where the
Salisbury line splits from the Southampton line.
It’s the largest single project on Network Rail in
this season.
‘We’re taking advantage of the closure to do a
lot of other work as well. We’ve got jobs on the
Exeter line, on the main lines, and all the Reading
line is being re-signalling while we’re at it.
‘It involves the relaying of 100 km of track, the
22 RAIL PROFESSIONAL : MAY 2007