Network Rail’s southern region has invested over 1.8bn GBP (2.09bn euros | 2.48bn USD) in the railway to support the UK’s mission to ‘build back better’ so passengers can feel confident and safe when they return to travelling by train.
Since March 2020, over 660m GBP (768.53m euros | 910.42m USD) in Kent, 643m GBP (748.74m euros | 886.93 USD) in Sussex and 580m GBP (675.49m euros | 800m USD) in Wessex has been invested on maintaining and upgrading the railway.
Work has included upgrades to stations such as Hither Green, Sandwich and Guildford, and improvements to the signalling and track round Hither Green, between Balham and Clapham and on the Arun Valley Line.
The Southampton docks area railway was also rebuilt to allow longer freight trains to run.
“It's great news that Network Rail has made such good progress in improving the infrastructure that our customers rely on every day.
“This work complements the enhancements that we at South Western Railway have made over the last 18 months, including faster wi-fi, upgraded station facilities and accessibility improvements – to name just a few.
“Improving our railway is a process rather than an event and we are continually working to improve our services – including by learning from our mistakes when things go wrong.”
