— By Plasteurope.com correspondent — 

As if London commuters haven’t had enough to deal with in this sweltering heat, one of the UK capital’s busiest train terminals has been closed until the middle of August so that engineers can replace sections of old concrete platforms with ones made from glass-reinforced plastic.

The platforms at Charing Cross station, which is located on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, are getting a mega-makeover, and we’re ‘railly’ pleased to see plastic featuring prominently in the works.

The upgrades will also see the replacement of two kilometres of 36-year-old track – presumably not with plastic rails – and new track drainage systems. Nearby Waterloo East station has also been shuttered until mid-August for repairs to a series of footbridges.

According to Southeastern Railway, the operator that runs trains into Charing Cross, the GBP 20 mn (EUR 23 mn) programme is being carried out during the summer holidays because 20% fewer people use its services at this time, and a three-week closure was preferable to 60 weekend closures.

In the meantime, passengers must use alternative services, adding up to an hour to their travel time. But hey, think of the plastic.

Let’s just hope those platforms don’t melt in this heat.