WORK on railway lines running through the heart of Gospel Oak kept hundreds of residents awake as it shook the ground during the early hours of Christmas Day.

Network Rail used the morning of December 25 to use diggers to start work on the Gospel Oak to Barking line, which included pile-driving concrete pillars into trackside earth banks, keeping people awake throughout the night.

The work is part of a project to prepare the line for forthcoming electrification works, switching the line from diesel to electric, allowing train companies to run more services and use environmentally friendly engines. The work is due to be completed in 2018. 

The noise at Gospel Oak station was heard from as far away as Highgate West Hill, sending repetitive soundwaves across Hampstead Heath. Trackside homes and the grade-II listed Lido pool also shook during the works. 

Heath manager Paul Maskell, who lives in Parliament Hill, was due to be in work at 7am to organise the Men’s Pond Christmas Day swim. 

He said: “It was pretty worrying. The whole Lido was shaking as the pile-driving was done and because of the work I was woken up at 3am. It ruined my Christmas Day. I was so tired I was in bed that night by 7pm.”

Highgate West Hill resident Hugh Sullivan said he was woken up by the noise and that it also affected his neighbours.

He added: “I was woken up at 4.20am by the loud banging noise. 

“It kept me awake until about 6.30am. The loud noise was echoing across the Heath. Other people living near me on Highgate Road were also woken up wondering what was going on. 

“What a way to start Christmas Day. Why did the work have to start so early? Why could it not have started at 9am? Why weren’t we informed if this was going to happen?”

A Network Rail spokesman said they had sent out 17,000 letters to  people living along the tracks to give them advance warning, and said that, while they understood people’s annoyance at the work, they had no choice.

The spokesman added: “We started work at 1am on Christmas Day and ideally we would not have chosen that time. 

“No one wants to work in the early hours of Christmas Day and no one wants to be disturbed – but it was the only time it could be done.”

The spokesman said the work required three intersections of rail routes that meet at Gospel Oak to have power turned off, including the North London line and the East Coast mainline. 

He added: “Unfortunately this small window of time we had to do the work was from 1am to midday on Christmas Day. It was the only time these lines could be safely closed for work to proceed.”