Dolphin Junction reopens after festive engineering work boosts reliability

The railway line at Dolphin Junction, between Slough and Reading, has reopened this morning (Sunday, January 4) following the completion of essential engineering work carried out over the festive period.

Network Rail engineers worked throughout Christmas and New Year to replace points and overhead lines on two of the four tracks on the western side of the junction. Points are key components of the railway that allow trains to switch from one track to another, ensuring the network remains flexible and operational.

Dolphin Junction is a particularly busy section of the network, handling up to 48 trains per hour and around 40 million tonnes of traffic each year. The constant weight and force from passing trains mean points wear out faster than other infrastructure, making regular replacement vital for safety and reliability. The recent work was designed to improve the resilience of the junction and support ongoing dependable train services.

An amended timetable had been in place from Saturday, December 27, to accommodate the reduced number of operational lines. With the engineering work now completed, services have returned to the normal timetable, with the line reopening before noon on Sunday.

Elsewhere on Network Rail’s Western route, work continued over the holiday period to build a new station in North Filton, Bristol. Engineers temporarily closed a freight line to realign track and improve drainage, while teams also worked on constructing new platform foundations.

Marcus Jones, Network Rail’s Western route managing director, said:

“We’d like to thank passengers for their patience while we carried out this vital work to renew infrastructure at a junction between Slough and Reading over the festive period. Fewer people travel by rail between Christmas and New Year compared to a normal working week, which gives us a valuable opportunity to deliver major upgrades such as this one while causing as little disruption as possible. Completing these improvements helps keep trains running safely and reliably, and we’re pleased to have reopened the line this morning, ahead of the first full working week of the year.”

Image: Network Rail