Major track renewal at Milton Keynes station has been completed on time as part of Network Rail’s £148m engineering programme over Christmas.
The project, which is part of the multi-billion-pound Railway Upgrade Plan, saw track at platform 6 being entirely replaced on the fast lines which link London with the West Midlands, the North West and Scotland.
More than 500 metres of track was renewed, as well as 430 metres of new track-side drainage.
Work to remove the old infrastructure began on Sunday, December 23, with the updated track operational for trains from this morning (December 28).
Howerd Kernahan, programme manager for Network Rail on the Milton Keynes project, said: “These improvements, as part of Network Rail’s Railway Upgrade Plan, mean faster and more reliable journeys for the millions of passengers who rely on the West Coast main line every year.
“The team worked round-the-clock over Christmas to carry out this essential track renewal. It was a complex job but it was well planned and delivered and we were able to hand back the lines to run at a much faster speed than expected this morning.
"After major work like this we’d expect trains would initially be able to travel at up to 60mph, but as the track renewal went so well we were able to hand back the lines at the full line running speed of 125mph."
A total of 25,000 people are working on improving Britain’s railway network over the Christmas and New Year period, with many other projects still ongoing.
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