Werrington Junction Rail Improvement Scheme

Overview

Plans to provide more passenger services on the East Coast Main Line

We are developing plans to improve the East Coast Main line (ECML) by building a new structure to separate slow moving freight trains from faster, long distance passenger services at Werrington Junction, just north of Peterborough.

This investment help would provide:

• Increased capacity on the ECML between London and the north
• Improved reliability for services on the ECML
• Improved journey times along the ECML route
• Reduced risk of delays to both passenger and freight services

Work so far

In summer 2014 we held a number of public consultation events where we presented two high level options to seek consent for either a ‘flyover’ or a ‘dive-under’ new track solution, as well as our early ideas on alignments.

Around 400 people from the local community attended the consultation events and for the past 12 months we have been reviewing the options in greater detail taking into account feedback received from the community and key stakeholders, with a view to identifying a preferred option to take forward.

Just over two thirds of the 140 feedback forms we received indicated a strong preference for the dive-under option and we are pleased to announce that we will now be taking this option forward with a view to applying for consent from the Secretary of State for Transport.

The image below shows the dive-under as presented during public consultation in 2014.

Next steps

The dive-under option presents a number of design and construction challenges for us, and as a consequence, we are currently in the process of bringing on board a specialist principal contractor who will assist in the design of the development and subsequently build the new track should it gain the necessary consents.

Timescales for the application for consent, through a Transport and Works Act Order (TWAO), and construction have altered from those we highlighted in our events last year and are now as follows:

• Specialist contractor appointed:  Summer 2016
• Community consultation: Autumn 2016
• Submit application for consent (TWAO) to carry out the work: Winter 2016
• Work starts (subject to consent being granted): Summer 2018
• Completion of works: Autumn 2020

You can download the consultation leaflet showing the plans we shared with the community in 2014 in the related documents.

We hope to be back in the community during summer 2016 to carry out a further round of formal consultation on our plans for the dive-under.  In the meantime you can also email consultation-werrington@networkrail.co.uk or call our national helpline, 03457 11 41 41.