A significant programme of renewals was completed at one of England’s busiest rail junctions across a nine day blockade, undertaken throughout the February half-term.
Dartford Junction has more than 500 trains travelling through it each day and is a critical part of the railway network in Kent.
To help improve the junction's resilience and reliability, VolkerRail installed 33 new plain line panels, 600 metres of new con-rail, 24 new S&C panels, and one modular S&C panel between Slade Green and Dartford.
A loose lay crossing panel, built in situ and consisting of 19 ten metre concrete bearers, was also installed.
Throughout the works, 13 engineering trains delivered 2,600 tonnes of ballast, along with all track panels which were installed using VolkerRail’s Kirow 1200 crane. The engineering trains also helped remove 2,400 tonnes of spoil from site.
To help reduce the stepping distance between platforms and trains, improving safety and passenger experience, 95 metres of platform coping works were also undertaken on platforms 1 and 3.
The work was delivered as part of the Southern Renewals Enterprise (SRE), to which VolkerRail is the track delivery partner, and is part of a wider investment to improve journeys for the tens of thousands of passengers who travel through it each day.
Rob Faux, VolkerRail’s track partner lead for SRE, said “I am really proud of the team’s hard work in delivering this renewal so successfully so soon after our last S&C renewal at QTR . The team worked diligently to absorb all the lessons learned from QTR, which helped deliver such a positive outcome”
