New bridge over railway on Walsall High Street as investment in West Midlands’ railway continues: Phase 1 West Span Walsall high Street railway bridge demolition

Friday 15 Jan 2016

New bridge over railway on Walsall High Street as investment in West Midlands’ railway continues

Region & Route:
| North West & Central

Network Rail will be demolishing the second half of a railway bridge which forms part of Walsall High Street this weekend in one of the most complex moments of the Walsall to Rugeley electrification project which forms a vital part of the national Railway Upgrade Plan to bring passengers a better, more efficient railway.

The bridge, used by thousands of shoppers each day, is an integral piece of the pedestrianised Walsall High Street with dozens of trains running underneath it every day. The structure dates back to the 1930s and needs replacing with a shallower version to free up headroom for the overhead electrification lines that will be installed underneath.

The £78m in electrification of the line between Birmingham New Street and Rugeley will provide passengers with improved journey times and make services more comfortable, reliable, quieter and greener.

Following years of planning the first phase of the work took place before Christmas with the demolition and replacement of half of the bridge on the station side over seven weeks. The second phase starts this weekend on the opposite side of the High Street with pedestrians still enjoying access across the bridge and to the shops.

Matt Brown, scheme project manager for Network Rail, said: “Technically this is relatively straightforward but logistically it’s the most complicated bridge I’ve ever had to deal with because it’s right in the middle of the town centre.

“We’ve made sure the key stakeholders are on board with the scheme. We’ve had a close relationship with the local authority, and the traders to educate people as to what we’re doing and why we’re doing it.

“When we start work over the railway on Sunday morning we’ll be installing protection underneath the bridge to shield the track and signalling infrastructure from any falling debris.

“We’ll use two 30-tonne machines which will start to split the beam from New Look to the centre into the middle. One by one, the beams will be lifted out and taken offsite and recycled.

“The new bridge is a traditional concrete deck and the beams will be craned in over about ten hours next weekend and we’re expecting to finish by Easter.

“It’s been eye-opening. A lot of people don’t even know there’s a railway underneath because of the nature of the High Street.”

Network Rail is investing £78m in electrifying the line between Birmingham New Street and Rugeley providing passengers with improved journey times and make services more comfortable, reliable, greener and quieter.

For train information on this line please check http://www.nationalrail.co.uk.

ENDS

Notes to editors

Walsall service to Tame Bridge Parkway and Rugeley Trent Valley will be replaced by a bus service on Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 January.

Engineering work is also taking place between Walsall and Rugeley Town on Saturday 16 and between Bescot Stadium and Rugeley Town on Sunday 17, closing all lines.

On Saturday 16, buses will replace trains between Walsall and Rugeley Trent Valley.

On Sunday 17, buses will replace trains between Tame Bridge Parkway and Rugeley Trent Valley.

Contact information

Passengers / community members
Network Rail national helpline
03457 11 41 41

Latest travel advice
Please visit National Rail Enquiries

Journalists
Network Rail press office - North West & Central Region
07740 782954
NWCmediarelations@networkrail.co.uk

About Network Rail

We own, operate and develop Britain's railway infrastructure; that's 20,000 miles of track, 30,000 bridges, tunnels and viaducts and the thousands of signals, level crossings and stations. We run 20 of the UK's largest stations while all the others, over 2,500, are run by the country's train operating companies.

Usually, there are almost five million journeys made in the UK and over 600 freight trains run on the network. People depend on Britain's railway for their daily commute, to visit friends and loved ones and to get them home safe every day. Our role is to deliver a safe and reliable railway, so we carefully manage and deliver thousands of projects every year that form part of the multi-billion pound Railway Upgrade Plan, to grow and expand the nation's railway network to respond to the tremendous growth and demand the railway has experienced - a doubling of passenger journeys over the past 20 years.

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