Derby railway station to receive major £200m investment to remove ‘bottlenecks’

Network Rail has announced the timetabling for a major £200 million investment programme at Derby railway station to remove the existing bottlenecks.

The station – which is managed by East Midlands Trains – was modernised in 2013 but the existing track layout and signalling have not been upgraded since they were installed around 50 years ago.

Network Rail said that as the number of services have increased, the historic layout of the railway has restricted and made train movement inefficient, often resulting in lengthy waiting times outside the station.

Regular maintenance has kept the station operating for the past five decades but as track and signalling work together to manage train movements efficiently, they are both being replaced and upgraded at the same time.

Passenger numbers have doubled in the past 20 years and with demand set to continue, Network Rail is seizing on a ‘once in a generation’ opportunity to improve the station.

As a result, between July 22, 2018, and October 7, 2018, engineering work will start at the station, causing ‘significant’ timetable changes.

A full programme of timetable changes is expected to be published in the new year.

Rob McIntosh, managing director for Network Rail’s London North Eastern and East Midlands route, said: “It is many decades since the rail infrastructure at Derby saw this kind of investment and we have spent a huge amount of time working with our train operators, stakeholders and local businesses to make sure we keep disruption to a minimum while getting this vital work done as quickly as possible.

“Derby is a key interchange on the Midland Main Line and once the upgrade is complete and the bottleneck removed, the region will benefit from a more efficient, reliable and modern network fit to meet the needs of the economies and communities our railway serves.”

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