Network Rail has completed a £300,000 track renewal project at London Waterloo station.

The scheme to replace large sections of the switches and crossings forms part of a wider £800 million investment to upgrade Waterloo & South West.

Once completed, the programme will provide:

• Longer platforms for longer trains, at a number of stations on the Reading line

• 30 brand new trains, providing 150 extra carriages

• New technology to make trains more efficient and improve punctuality

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• Improvements to depots and maintenance facilities to look after the network's biggest ever fleet of trains

Becky Lumlock, route managing director at Network Rail, said: "The improvements we have made this weekend are all part of our Railway Upgrade Plan to make the railway in and out of Waterloo more reliable for the growing number of passengers that use it.

"I'd like to thank passengers for their patience while we carried out our improvements this weekend, and also ask that everyone checks before travelling while we continue our improvement works later this month."

Work will continue over the next two weekends in March – 18/19 and 25/26 March – when fewer services will run in and out of Waterloo.

In addition, further work will start in August to; install new track on the approaches to platforms 1-8, realign/rebuild the far ends of platforms 5-8 and provide access for the required machinery to carry out the works.

(LM)