Network Rail secures record £2 billion to better Surrey’s railway

The south western rail network through Surrey runs out of London’s Waterloo station

Network Rail has secured a budget of more than £2 billion to provide a safer and more reliable railway for passengers travelling on the south western rail network through Surrey and the surrounding area.

The funding will be focused on renewing and maintaining existing infrastructure to prevent failures; providing passengers more reliable train journeys.

Becky Lumlock, Route Managing Director for Network Rail’s Wessex route, said: “We now have more money than ever before to invest in this route and make a real difference to people’s journeys – that’s great news for the people of Surrey and the surrounding area.

“With almost a quarter of a billion passenger journeys per year, this part of the railway is under enormous pressure. The next five years are about making sure our tracks, our signals, our bridges and everything in between, are in first-class condition and can support this growing demand.

“We know we still have much to do to improve train performance on our route and, working with South Western Railway, this funding will help us do that for the communities we serve.”

The work in and around Surrey will see ageing infrastructure being replaced and the resilience of the railway improved. This will give passengers a more reliable, safer train service by reducing the number of times infrastructure fails, while avoiding speed restrictions being put in place. More specifically, the investment includes:

• Track renewal for key junctions at Nine Elms, Wimbledon, Berrylands, Twickenham, Witton, Staines, Wokingham and Guildford
• Reducing the risk of landslips during bad weather at Wimbledon, New Malden and Pirbright
• Installing brand new signalling at Feltham to improve the reliability of services from Reading and Windsor
• Bridge strengthening and renewals in Stoughton and Farnham
• Improvements to Victoria Arch bridge at Woking
• Station improvements at Waterloo station and platform work at Clapham Junction and Guildford stations to reduce the gap between trains and platforms
• Drainage work to reduce the risk of the railway flooding at Guildford.