The TRAINS Newswire of this date has this Headline: “UK set for massive rail maintenance effort in time for New Year” October 31, 2016
FTA:"…LONDON — Dozens of maintenance projects on Britain’s Network Rail this holiday season will result in “Christmas chaos,” the Mirror reports.
Network Rail is preparing to shut down at least five major terminals and stations in London in late December and early January for track and station work projects. In years past, Network Rail has taken advantage of the slow holiday period — when most people go home for Christmas and New Years — to do maintenance, but the
Mirror reports that this year will be the biggest work schedule ever. Network Rail expects to complete 42 different projects in the London area during the final two weeks of December…" [snipped]
Having never been to the UK, I have no ideas as to what will be involved in; what on its face, seems to point to a massive disruption of English lives over a Holiday Period ( Christmas and New Years). To schedule such a major effort during that time frame would seem to be somewhat ‘politically suicidal’(?).
Rail travel for the English has been presented, in this country, as a critical function to their daily lives. They have always presented their system maintenance as a well planned, and thought out function of their rail operations. So what is the reason behind such a major effort over a Holiday period?
The article contains the following quote: [snip] "…Ian Baldry, a travel consultant, tells the paper that, “Passengers will be pulling their hair out over these works, with frayed tempers ahead. Network Rail has been over-ambitious and ramped up the quantity of works as commuters are off work &