Earlier today, Saturday, 2 September, Network Rail has reached a major milestone in its £116m Feltham and Wokingham re-signalling programme when it successfully switched on 116 new state-of-the-art digital signals between Barnes and Virginia Water, Windsor & Eton Riverside and Hounslow.

That part of the railway network had been closed for 14 days while Network Rail engineers worked around the clock to commission the new signals and complete the upgrading of seven level crossings that were also part of the programme.

The upgraded signalling system will result in more reliable journeys and fewer delays for passengers on the Windsor Lines, which are a key route for commuters in and out of London.

The previous signalling system and track circuits were installed in 1974 and controlled by the Feltham Area Signalling Centre.

They had become increasingly less reliable and harder to maintain and were in need of upgrading. Concurrent with the installation of the new signalling, control of this part of the network has been moved to the Basingstoke Rail Operating Centre, which is shared with South Western Railway.

As well as installing 116 digital signals and upgrading seven level crossings, to support the new technology engineers have installed 11 km of new cabling in 14 km of refurbished cable ducts, and 27 new under-track cable routes.

Completion of the Feltham and Wokingham re-signalling programme is planned for early next year when the remaining parts of the key signalling equipment controlled by the Feltham Area Signalling Centre and Wokingham Signal Box will be upgraded.

Together, they control 80 miles of railway and 500 separate pieces of signalling equipment. In addition, a total of 13 level crossings will have been renewed or upgraded to ensure improved train performance and more reliable journeys for passengers.

Mark Killick, Network Rail s Wessex route director, said: ” Im pleased to say we ve now reached a significant milestone of our wider Feltham and Wokingham resignalling programme with the switching on of 116 new signals on the Windsor Lines. These new digital signals replace old equipment that had become unreliable and harder to maintain and will improve the reliability of this stretch of railway and in turn help reduce delays for our customers. I d like to thank customers and local residents for their patience while we’ve carried out this work.”