On Friday 9th December Network Rail invited us to view the site for the new 2400sq meters

(L-R) Simon Chapman, Mark Ruddy, Henry Smith & Brett Jarman

The building itself is being built with sustainable and environmental measures. With solar panels and specialist glazing to minimize heat loss and many other measures to make it groundbreaking and environmentally friendly. The works have been carefully and considerately planned with the surrounding road networks and public areas taken into consideration at all times. The building is the fourth of its kind built by the specialist construction company Spencer Limited on behalf of Network Rail which has gone through a careful design process. Brett Jarman told us “after constructing three of these specialised buildings, we feel we have a world class building now”.

Henry Smith MP

Attending this landmark event was Henry Smith MP who told us “This is a ground breaking event for the building of a new signalling centre. Three Bridges will become the hub of the signalling centre for the railways for the entire South East. This will bring high quality employment to Crawley.

Getting signed in and kitted out

The capacity of track and signalling will be increased with the addition of investment into a complete revamp of Three Bridges Station. It’s going to be a great new customer experience with an extra 120 car parking spaces for the commuters. All in all it is going to be of great financial benefit and employment source to Crawley, with 3000 jobs being created. With 53 millions pounds worth of investment going into Gatwick Station and planned improvements to Crawley Station too the travelling experience will be greatly improved in just over a years time. The construction comp-any and Network Rail have gone to lengths to communicate with the general public on any disruption issues but if there are any concerns, the public can call the Network Rail Hotline on 0845 7114141 or are more than welcome to contact my office on 01293 934554 or email here“.

Mark Ruddy, Route Managing Director for Sussex Network Rail

We spoke to Mark who told us “we are starting to build a brand new rail operating centre that will modernise the whole of the running of the South East of England. We chose Three Bridges because it is the main link from London to Brighton main line which is probably the busiest route in Europe with ten trains per route mile travelling at any time of the day. Three Bridges is the main key focal point for these trains.

Crawley is a natural hub for this part of the country and sits central between London and Brighton, especially with Gatwick on its doorstep. We have chosen to start this project now because there has been a five to seven percent increase on the growth of the railway passenger demand year on year over the last decade. If we are to keep up with this curve we need to radically modernise the railway. This has to be in proportion to the timing of the growth as the cost can be surmountable. Construction has just begun with the projected build completion to be December 2012. We will then move signals and controllers into the building. The control hub should be up and running by Spring of 2014. We hope to grow it to be able to host the Thames Link trains by 2018 when we will be committed to running 24 train per hour. To do this we will need this new signalling centre. On the ecological side of the project, we believe moving large numbers of people around by train to be one of the most ecological methods and we have gone to further lengths with this build to make it even more environmentally friendly. We have put the land and the building through rigorous tests to make sure we are doing the best for the environment now and in the future, including re-homing all wildlife before construction commenced. With solar power and other ecological methods the hub should be pretty much self sufficient, power wise”.

Henry was really pleased with his special gift

We feel Network Rail have gone to extreme lengths to make this a safe, beneficial and environmentally friendly project which will only increase the traffic of passengers to Crawley bringing a greater economy to the town.

We will keep you all updated with the progress of this new and exciting project.

We would like to thank Jon Crampton, Media Relations Officer for the invite. Our thanks also goes to Chris Burchell, Managing Director of Southern Trains, Brett Jarman, Project Director for Spencer Limited for showing us around the site, Peter lawrence, Regional Director South for Spencer Limited, Henry Smith MP, and Mark Ruddy, Route Managing Director for Sussex Network Rail.

What a nice touch by C Spencer Limited