Enable Infrastructure Renovate 18 Stations through the Ashford and Arun Valley Route Blockades for Network Rail
Enable Infrastructure Renovate 18 Stations through the Ashford and Arun Valley Route Blockades for Network Rail
26 August 2021
Between Saturday 7th to Sunday 15th August 2021, Network rail closed the Ashford line in Kent for nine days to structurally reinforce a steep railway cutting at Bearsted in order to prevent landslips in this area. As part of the closure Network Rail took this opportunity to renovate 5 stations, consequently improving the passenger’s experience.
Having vast experience in platform renovations, Enable Infrastructure (formerly known as BCM Construction) won the opportunity to execute Extensive Repairs, Platform End Gate Installation, Tactile Installation, Platform Deep Cleaning, Drainage, White & Yellow Lining, Platform Coper Work, Canopy Structures and Decorating works at Bearsted, Charing, Harrietsham, Hollingbourne and Lenham Station.
Following this, Between Saturday 14th to Sunday 22nd August 2021 the Arun Valley Blockade located in Sussex took place working to give passengers travelling on the line better, more reliable journeys. This was delivered through new, more reliable equipment, as well as deep cleaning, refurbishing, decorating and essential maintenance of stations along the Arun Valley line.
Enable Infrastructure were contracted to deliver vast improvements to 18 stations throughout blockades and these works fall under the Southern Buildings and Civils Framework (SBC) for Network Rail. And while cleaner, brighter and better stations don’t have an impact on train performance, they give passengers a more pleasant journey experience, thus enforcing NR’s initiative of #PuttingPassengersFirst.
A key challenge for us through these blockades were logistics and mobilisation during a short period of time on multiple sites however, through the meticulous planning delivered by Enable Design (formerly known as Equate Design) and the continued welfare and plant support from Enable Hire and Enable Welfare under our Enable Consortium, we were able to deliver these works to a high standard and on time.
Enable Infrastructure have delivered the Deep cleaning, refurbishing, decorating and essential maintenance of all closed stations – Crawley, Ifield, Faygate, Littlehaven, Holmwood, Ockley, Horsham, Christs Hospital, Billingshurst, Pullborough, Amberley, Arundel and Warnham.
Operations Director Daniel O’Dowd said:
“This is Enable Infrastructure ‘s third blockade of this nature working for Network Rail. We are well rehearsed in this type of work now with this being our third renovation blockade in the past year.
The Enable Infrastructure Project team and the Network Rail project team have worked very hard in an open and transparent collaborative approach to ensure we deliver this project safely. The main objective for this project is to ensure we give something back to the passengers when they return to their station after the blockade.”
Thank you to Network Rail, and all associated Train Operating Companies (TOC) across this region – Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR), Southern and Southeastern Railway. This was a fantastic example of how working collaboratively ensured the successful delivery of the project.