The Feltham and Wokingham rail corridor, located to the south-west of London, forms a vital part of the UK’s rail network feeding directly into London Waterloo. For decades, this heavily used route relied on signalling infrastructure and track circuits dating back to the 1970s. While robust in their time, these legacy systems had become increasingly unreliable, limiting performance and affecting service resilience across the network.
To address this, AtkinsRéalis was appointed by Network Rail to design, project manage and deliver a transformative £160m, multi-year resignalling programme. Spanning more than 80 miles of live, high-traffic railway, the scheme involved migrating operations from outdated control systems to the state-of-the-art Basingstoke Rail Operating Centre (BROC). The programme also included the upgrade of 13 level crossings, delivering a significant step forward in safety, capacity and operational efficiency.
MPI Limited supported this landmark programme across multiple phases through a specialist subcontract package covering Signal Works Testing and Commissioning. Our involvement began in the early stages (2021–2022) and continued through to the later, more complex phases of delivery.
Phases 3 and 4 represented the largest and most technically demanding stage of the project. Covering approximately 40 miles of railway in the Feltham area, the works included the installation and commissioning of 144 digital signals, the staged upgrade of seven level crossings, the laying of 260 miles of cabling, and the installation of 234 axle counters, alongside a wide range of supporting signalling infrastructure. MPI provided end-to-end Test Management and Signal Works teams, including pre-testing support and final commissioning activities, deploying over 60 specialist signal testers at peak.
The final phase (Phase 5), completed in February 2024, saw the Wokingham area successfully recontrolled into BROC. This stage delivered three further level crossing upgrades, 112 miles of new cabling, and the commissioning of 43 additional digital signals, marking the completion of the programme.
MPI Limited is proud to have played a key role in this nationally significant project. The successful delivery of the Feltham and Wokingham resignalling programme represents a major milestone in modernising one of the UK’s busiest rail corridors, delivering long-term improvements in reliability, safety, and performance for both passengers and freight operators.
