First use for rail track; ARMITAGE.

DELIGHTED rail chiefs are celebrating after a stretch of newly constructed track was used for the first time.

The 1.5-mile stretch at Armitage with Handsacre, which forms part of Network Rail's pounds 350 million Trent Valley 4 Tracking (TV4) project to widen the West Coast Main Line through Staffordshire, is now open.

It is the longest stretch of new track to be opened so far in the project, which has seen new sections already opened over the River Tame near Tamworth and at Huddlesford.

The TV4 project is working to increase the capacity on the West Coast Main Line by doubling the tracks from two to four along a 12-mile stretch of railway between Armitage with Handsacre and Tamworth.

It also represents one of the final parts of the overall pounds 8.6 billion upgrade of the West Coast Main Line, which is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2008.

Keith Riley, Network Rail's Senior Project Manager said: "This is great news for passengers as it means we're a big step towards our ultimate aim of delivering a better, more frequent and faster train service."