1) Here’s a short thread on why you might notice more railway ‘blockades’ in future (where we close a stretch of railway for a number of consecutive days versus multiple weekends of disruption). 
2) ‘In the case of Bearsted (networkrail.co.uk/bearsted), why did you decide to close the railway line for nine days in the middle of the summer holidays?’
It might seem strange on the face of it but it’s actually more efficient this way. The alternative ...
It might seem strange on the face of it but it’s actually more efficient this way. The alternative ...
3) ... would be working over multiple weekends throughout the year, which would be far more disruptive to passengers and our lineside neighbours.
4) ‘But didn’t you used to do engineering work at weekends? What’s changed?’
We still do. But this approach of closing the railway for a number of consecutive days makes sense when we have so much to do, such as fixing the railway cutting at Bearsted.
We still do. But this approach of closing the railway for a number of consecutive days makes sense when we have so much to do, such as fixing the railway cutting at Bearsted.
5) It means we can get heavy machinery on site and make the most of having it there for a while. Otherwise we might only get 24 hours of actual work out of them as we’d have to spend a lot of time preparing and tidying up ready for Monday morning services.
6) In short, working safely and getting the right machinery, materials and people in place is a logistical challenge. That's why a longer 'blockade' is better for everyone as we don’t have to close the railway at weekends as much.
7) Each time Covid restrictions have been lifted, we’ve welcomed more passengers back; noticeably at weekends. It seems -for now at least- that people are keen to travel by train for leisure purposes. Passenger numbers have increased during the week too but not on the same scale.
8) That’s hardly a surprise as the traditional working day of 9 to 5 in the office has been upended and we are adapting to this new world of flexible working.
9) So while a nine day ‘blockade’ is logistically more favourable and cost-efficient for us, most importantly it also puts passengers first! We must adapt to the shift in train travel patterns in 2021 and beyond and ensure we meet them. Thanks for reading.
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