ELECTRIC SERVICES TO START IN MAY
Wires up: Rugeley Town station on the Chase line. Courtesy Network Rail
IN DECEMBER Network Rail completed testing and commissioning of electrification between Walsall and Rugeley. The work on the 15-mile stretch has exceeded both its scheduled time and budget. In May 2016 the work was described as a £36 million investment due for completion by December 2017, but the first electric passenger services are not planned to use the line until May 2019 and the scheme is now said to have cost over £100 million. As well as the erection of overhead wires on 51km of track, six road bridges have been rebuilt. NR’s construction contractor for the wiring work was ABC Electrification, a consortium of Alstom, Babcock and Costain, which delivered to a design by Atkins
