New, state-of-the-art signalling that was commissioned over the recent bank holiday, will ensure more reliable journeys for passengers from 30 stations on Great Northern‘s Moorgate line.

Outdated and ageing components dating back to the 1970s, including some that ran on compressed air, have been replaced by digital equipment on the Northern City Line between Finsbury Park and Moorgate stations.

After a bedding-in period, the delays to commuters and leisure travellers caused by signal failures should be significantly reduced.

The work is part of the Government-funded East Coast Digital Programme. This will ultimately replace traditional signals alongside the tracks with digital screens inside train cabs, once system testing and driver training are complete. The Northern City Line is expected to operate solely using digital signalling by 2024.

Toufic Machnouk, Network Rail’s Director, Industry Partnership for Digital Railway, said:

“This commissioning will deliver improved reliability for passengers and marks an important step forward in the wider East Coast Digital Programme that will transform the capability of a major intercity route.

“The deep partnership we have forged for the Northern City Line project is breaking the traditional boundaries in the way we work as an industry to deliver greater benefits for passengers.”

Thameslink and Great Northern Managing Director, Tom Moran, said:

“The signalling on the Northern Line was a tried and tested, safe system but it had reached the end of its life and often failed, causing considerable disruption to our customers. They would often find their services either cancelled or delayed and diverted into King’s Cross, a long way from where they wanted to go.

“This work by Network Rail, as part of the Government-funded East Coast Digital Programme, has brought the route firmly into the 21st century and should, after a bedding in period, greatly improve reliability.”

Mark Ferrer, Siemens Mobility Limited, Rail Infrastructure Operations Director, said:

“This commissioning marks the start of a roll-out of modern train control technology that provides a far more efficient and reliable railway.

“The partnership on the programme has enabled the train control partner to collaborate with other industry partners to efficiently define and develop the agreed scope and design to be able to deliver the engineering that led to the successful commissioning of this digital system.”