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CONSTRUCTION SERVICES AND EQUIPMENT


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arillion has won the £20m contract for track upgrade work at Reading station and on the surrounding railway.


The work is part of a much bigger project to unclog the rail bottleneck at the station, boost freight and passenger capacity, ex- pand the station itself and grade-separate the Great Western Main Line from the slower tracks.


Commuter trains from Reading into London Paddington are already some of the most over-crowded in the country, and the number of passengers using the sta- tion is expected to double over the next 20 years – hence the need for the giant civil engineering project, estimated to cost nearly £850m.


Bill Henry, project director for Network Rail in Reading, said: “Awarding this con-


The Reading upgrade timeline:


Summer 2011 Station modernisation work begins End of 2011 New southern platform opens Mid-2013 New northern platforms and two new station entrances open Mid-2014


Bridges carrying Main Line over Cow Lane demolished and rebuilt Summer 2015 Viaduct separating the lines opens west of the station Summer 2016 Final improvements to track layout complete


96 | rail technology magazine Feb/Mar 11


tract is an important step towards improv- ing Reading’s railway. Carillion will be working with us for the next five years as we create a new track layout for Reading de- signed to increase capacity and cut delays. We’ll be working hard to get this job done with minimum impact on passenger and freight services running through Reading.”


Arith Liyanage, Carillion Rail manag- ing director, said: “Carillion is delighted to have been awarded this contract from Network Rail. Our innovative techniques will ensure timely, cost effective work with minimum disruption to rail passenger and freight services. We aim to build long- term relationships with our customers and we’re proud to be part of Network Rail’s substantial investment in this area.”


Modular track construction


As part of the upgrade, 28km of new track will be laid and 92 signalling and communications units installed. The track team will use a modular approach, laying it in pre-assembled sections to reduce the need for railway closures.


During 2011 track work will focus on the Southern lines used by South West Trains services to London Waterloo.


The first major engineering project of the Reading upgrade was completed success- fully over Christmas when a rail bridge over a busy dual carriageway near the sta- tion was widened. Signalling control has been transferred to the Thames Valley Signalling Centre at Didcot.


The whole project should be complete by 2016.


FOR MORE INFORMATION Visit www.networkrail.co.uk/reading


Kevin Brown, Reading project civils pro- gramme manager for Network Rail, said: “At the station building itself, there are go- ing to be five new platforms – four to the north, one to the south – and a brand new canopy going over the rest of the station which will also include a new footbridge for passengers to get to the new platforms.


“This will be about three times as wide as the current bridge. There are also two new entrances to the station, with one at either end of the new footbridge.”


The major railway bridge project at Christmas involved lifting the entire struc- ture into place using a self-propelled mod- ular transporter (SPMT).


Brown explained: “The SPMT is essential- ly a 72-axle, remote-controlled trailer sys- tem. Firstly this reduces the risk from high winds that affect cranes more. In addition, using SPMT to lift the bridge into place rather than a crane reduces the amount of time the mainline needs to be closed for due to the larger clearance a crane would have required.”


The Reading station upgrade is one of the biggest civil engineering projects in the country


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