Monday 9 Feb 2009
£1M MAKEOVER FOR GATHURST RAIL LINE
- Region & Route:
Passengers using the railway between Gathurst and Appley Bridge will have a quieter, smoother ride following a £1.1m track renewal project being carried out by Network Rail.
Just over two miles of new track will be laid, including 147 yards of guard rail over Gathurst Viaduct. The 25ft high viaduct spans both the River Douglas and the Leeds & Liverpool Canal, and the guard rail sits alongside the normal rails to keep trains on the viaduct in the event of a derailment.
Commenting on the investment, Gary Openshaw, Network Rail’s area general manager said: “This is all part of our on-going work to give passengers a relaibale railway. Once the work is completed, there will be an improvement in the performance of trains along the Wigan – Southport line.”
Thirteen special trains will be used to take the old track away and deliver the new materials to the worksites. This will include 3,346 steel and 1,960 concrete sleepers, 7,750 yards of rail and 8,200 tonnes of ballast (the grey stone chippings that the track is bedded into).
The work will take just over a week to complete and the line will be closed continuously from Valentines Day until it reopens for normal services at 5.30am on Monday 23 February.
Train operator Northern has arranged a comprehensive alternative road service operating between Southport and Wigan (Southport and Manchester on Sundays 15 and 22 February).
For full details of train service alterations visit the Northern website at www.northernrail.org or call National Rail Enquiries on 08457 48 49 50 or go to their website at www.nationalrail.co.uk
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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.
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