Network Rail has completed a £6 million flood alleviation project in London.

A new drainage system has been installed at Fulwell station in Richmond-upon-Thames.

The new pumping system will take excess rain water into a newly built storage lagoon, before being released gradually into existing drains. The two-part lagoon can hold a total of up to 2 million litres of rain water.

Becky Lumlock, route managing director at Network Rail, said: "Passengers using the railway at Fulwell know all too well the problems that flooding can cause, so I’m really pleased that as part of our Railway Upgrade Plan for a better railway, we’re delivering the biggest improvement to flooding at the station in 150 years.

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"When working at full capacity, the new pumping system can move 225 litres of water a second. At this speed, they could empty an Olympic sized swimming pool (2.5 million litres) in just three hours, which will make an enormous difference at the station.

"A number of attempts have been made over the years to tackle the flooding problem, but as a result of the improvements we have made over the last year passengers will now experience fewer incidences of delays."

(LM)