Kings Cross Remodelling

The scheme – dubbed ‘King’s Uncrossed’ – involved a wholesale replacement of the over 40-year-old tracks and track layout on the 1.5-mile approach into the station. CRS have been a major part of the £1.2billion East Coast Upgrade to transform travel, to and from London on the East Coast Main Line through a multi-million-pound investment in renewing Drainage, Track, Signalling and Overhead Line Equipment at King’s Cross. The Upgrade provided a once-in-a-generation opportunity to improve this vital part of the rail network, which carries long-distance trains bound for the North of England and Scotland as well as many commuter services across North London and Cambridgeshire. While the station itself was modernised in 2012, much of the track and signalling equipment that serve it is over 40 years old. It is nearing the end of its operational life and is becoming harder to maintain.

An essential design element of this key upgrade was to open the third Gasworks Tunnel, which was closed in the 1970s. The re-opening of this tunnel will allow the commission of two extra tracks on the approach to the station. This allows more capacity and greater flexibility for services coming in and out of King’s Cross. The signalling system between King’s Cross and Peterborough has been transferred from the local King’s Cross signal box to the state-of-the-art Railway Operations Centre in York. While modern signalling will help the network to recover services more quickly if disrupted, this change will also allow the signal box at King’s Cross to be demolished, creating additional space for the new tracks into the third tunnel. During essential works throughout the Christmas period of 2020, CRS assisted the CRSA in the rebuild of Camden Sewer, which runs directly beneath the tracks outside Kings Cross station. Trains were forced to run at a reduced speed over the fragile Victorian sewer, as they entered & exited the station. This rebuild now enables trains to arrive & depart more efficiently.

CRS were contacted by our client CRSA in November 2019 before the blockade started to provide the pre-mobilisation support that was continued through to the start of the blockade and beyond. This was to offer a magnitude of skilled labour resources to assist with the various disciplines required within the remodelling program. This was collaboratively and strategically planned to ensure the skill sets were available throughout. The project was amongst very challenging conditions and whilst competing against both rain and snow throughout and not least the COVID-19 pandemic.