Derby’s £200m station revamp complete as services return to normal

A £200m transformation programme at Derby station and the “biggest upgrade of the Midland mainline” since it opened in 1870 has now been completed – bringing months of disruption to an end.

Beginning on 22 July, Derby railway station has undergone 79 days and 600,000 hours of major engineering work to upgrade the track and signalling system, in one of the largest investment projects for decades.

Months of disruption have been experienced by commuters with users having to use replacement buses due to reduced services. A normal timetable of trains is set to return today (8 October).

Network Rail say work undertaken at the station has “removed a key bottleneck and improved line speeds through the station”, providing a more efficient and reliable railway with reduced delays for the four million passengers who use the station every year.

The organisation claim says the months of disruption were needed to make journeys between Derby, London and the North more efficient for passengers. East Midlands Trains services between Matlock and Newark (via Derby) and the full East Midlands Trains timetable between Sheffield, Derby and London St Pancras have returned, with two trains per hour in each direction serving the Midland Main Line. New waiting rooms and facilities have also been constructed to give commuters a more enjoyable experience.

Rob McIntosh, route managing director at Network Rail, hailed the "once in a generation investment" to improve the railway and believes the benefits will be felt across the whole of the East Midlands.

“We’re delighted that this work is now complete and we look forward to passengers reaping the benefits," he added. "We appreciate that this work has impacted on people and we would like to thank all those affected whilst this vital investment took place. Passenger numbers are ever increasing and this upgrade means we can continue to provide a service which meet the needs of the communities and economies which our railway serves."

Jake Kelly, managing director at East Midlands Trains, added: “I am immensely proud of the hard work and skill shown by our people in planning and delivering this. The Derby Resignalling Project was a very challenging period for everyone but we have come through that exceptionally well and also delivered the upgrade safely, efficiently and reintroduced our full train service from first thing this morning, as planned."