From NR Intranet (minus photo)

Coventry resignalling completed
Passengers are set to benefit following the successful completion of the £45m project to renew the signalling and improve the track through Coventry on Wednesday 29 August 2007.

The Coventry project saw the old 1960s signalling renewed with modern state-of-the-art equipment along 22 miles of railway serving all four routes into Coventry station. New sections of track have been added to ease congestion in the station and the operations of the station signal box moved to Network Rail's new West Midlands Signalling Centre in Saltley.

As part of the scheme, Coventry signal box closed over the bank holiday, with Gerald Haslam, 73, formally ‘switching off' the power at Coventry Signal Box with his son Kevin Haslam. Gerald worked for the railway for 45 years between 1949 and 1994 and did the installation of the equipment in the current signal box towards the end of the 1960s. His son Kevin worked to commission the system which replaces it.

Over the next seven years Network Rail will invest a further £350m in renewing signalling equipment across the West Midlands . The next phase in 2008 will see new signalling and other improvements to the 23-mile route between Birmingham Snow Hill, Solihull and Warwick .

More information
The new signalling systems in Coventry will cover 22 miles of railway through and around Coventry station out to Hampton-in-Arden in the west, Brandon (near Rugby) in the east, Milverton Junction (Leamington) to the south and Counden Road on the Nuneaton route to the north.

As part of the project, a new 1.5-mile stretch of track was added to the single track line between Park Junction (adjacent to Quinton Road ) and Gibbet Hill Junction on the Coventry to Leamington route. Effectively ‘doubling' the track in this area will increase capacity and allow train operators more flexibility to provide a more reliable service for passengers by reducing congestion through Coventry station.

Further resignalling projects in the West Midlands over the next seven years include Water Orton, Walsall, Wolverhampton and Birmingham New Street . As the signalling is improved in each area, operations will move into the West Midlands Signalling Centre in Saltley which will eventually control the signalling for over 400 miles of railway across the West Midlands .

And 2 days after the changeover vandals decided to cut the axle counter cables at Tile hill on the up line causing severe disruption rumour has it that it was an inside job from the company that installed the equipment