King’s Cross has successful Christmas

A successful six-day closure of King’s Cross station over Christmas allowed for the reconstruction of the Camden Sewer, which runs beneath the tracks. Network Rail’s teams lifted all four tracks entering the station for the first time in over 40 years.

3,200 litres of water per second passes through the sewer. Teams also had to remove 850 tonnes of spoil from the sewer as part of the work.

Work was also carried out to install new overhead line equipment, renew some of the tracks around the station and install over 100 new pieces of signalling equipment, which will bring more reliable journeys for passengers.

Ed Akers, Principal Programme Sponsor for Network Rail’s East Coast Upgrade, said: “This was an incredible, industry-leading piece of work by Network Rail engineers and our suppliers.

“Digging out and rebuilding a major sewer would have been a complex engineering challenge at any time, even without all the additional problems of working during the pandemic. But it was delivered without a hitch and without causing any extra disruption for passengers.

“I’d like to thank passengers for bearing with us while we completed the work – it will help us deliver a better and more reliable railway for you in the future.”

The next vital stage of the project is to continue to build a new section of railway at Werrington, north of Peterborough. This work is taking place from Saturday 16 to Sunday 24 January. During the nine days, there will be limited services on the East Coast Main Line between Grantham and Peterborough. Passengers who have to travel are strongly advised to plan their journey in advance and allow more time. This part of the East Coast Upgrade will make space for additional passenger services.