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Balfour Beatty Rail Projects carried out this multi-disciplinary project to upgrade the Waterloo & City Line on the London Underground network.
For five months, from April 2006 to September 2006, the 2.4km Waterloo & City Line was closed to allow Balfour Beatty Rail to carry out track and signalling refurbishments and renewals.
The logistics of the line offered a number of challenges to the project team. The line, which runs under the River Thames from Waterloo Station to Bank Station, is unconnected to the main Tube network, so all plant and materials for the works were lowered from street level and on to the line below.
The works have significantly enhanced the environment for passengers including:
- Increased frequency - from four-train to five-train timetable
- Quicker journey times
- Smoother ride due to new track
- Smarter trains - all carriages were refurbished
- More reliable trains due to an improved maintenance depot
- Smarter platforms at Bank and Waterloo stations
We installed 4,290m of new track with new concrete sleepers, new ballast, improved track drainage and new steel/aluminium composite conductor rail. Modifications to the signalling system have reduced the headway between trains and allowed higher speeds by modified route release and trainstops, re-wired signal equipment rooms, new signalling relays and new signal and track indication panels in the SERs for enhanced fault finding.
A new Service Control System (EBI Screen) has been installed featuring automatic route setting and an ability to adapt to variable service patterns. Initial operation with the five-train timetable has shown significant and noticeable improvements to passenger flow through Waterloo.
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