Local residents who live near to the railway are set to benefit from a new digital service that will let people know about upcoming railway engineering work, emergency work and get updates about current maintenance and upgrade projects in ‘real-time’.
Line side neighbours living within 500m of a railway line across Network Rail’s Wessex route – which serves the towns and communities in part or all of the counties of Surrey, Berkshire, Hampshire, Dorset, Devon, Somerset and Wiltshire – are encouraged to sign up to this new email service by visiting www.networkrail.co.uk/railworknearme.
This free opt-in service will keep people up-to-date with the latest information about any works going on in their neighbourhood, especially those that might cause a disturbance, providing details in a clear, accessible and timely way.
This is part of a wider national initiative that will benefit Network Rail’s 25 million neighbours nationwide.
Spanning 20,000 miles of track, 30,000 bridges and viaducts, and thousands of level crossings and signals and stations, the railway infrastructure touches every corner of Britain. Essential works not only impact the millions who travel by rail daily, but also our millions of lineside neighbours.
Mark Goodall, Network Rail’s Wessex route director, said: “I’m delighted that we’re rolling out this new service for our lineside neighbours across the Wessex route and strongly encourage people to sign up.
“We’re committed to keeping the communities we serve up to date on any planned or emergency work and this free digital notification service will undoubtedly play a key role in complementing the existing ways we communicate.
“The new scheme also has the added benefit of saving the railway £1.65 per print letter – funds that instead can be reinvested elsewhere on the network. Letters will of course still be used for those not able to access on-line systems.”
Sarah Sanders, head of contact and community, Network Rail said: “We are working hard providing as much notice as possible about our projects, whether its general maintenance or engineering upgrades.
“Our digital notification system is a step-change in the way we engage with our communities and neighbours as part of our vision to deliver a simpler, better, greener railway.”
The rollout follows a successful pilot scheme in 2023 across a selection of projects, including the Midland Main Line upgrade and Bolton to Wigan electrification scheme, with 207,114 notifications sent to neighbours with a saving of £362,988.
