Media centre

Thursday 6 Nov 2003

£2.4M INVESTED ON RAILWAY AT EARLSWOOD TO STABILISE EMBANKMENT AND BRING LONG TERM BENEFITS TO PASSENGERS

Region & Route:

| Southern

Rail has completed major railway embankment stabilisation work at Earlswood as part of its commitment to rebuild the railway. Emergency works was carried out to a small section of the embankment in February 2001 and Although no incidents have occurred in recent years there was concern that remainder of the embankment could become be unstable, particularly during severe weather conditions. The xxx 15 metre deephigh, embankment, built circa 1840, required complex groundwork to prevent future movement and maintain a safe and reliable railway. Over xxxm one kilometre of banks were was regraded and stabilised on the line between xxx Earlswood and xxxSalfords.  This vital safety related work will improve drainage on the line, reducing potential delays to services and thus bringing long-term benefits to passengers. The Construction Partnership (a partnership between Edmund Nuttall Ltd. and Network Rail) carried out the work, which was started on xxx and was completed on time and to budget. on xxx. The work was carried out whilst trains were running so there was no disruption to train services. A full environmental survey was carried out in conjunction with conservation experts to ensure that protected wildlife was not disturbed.Before work started a strict environmental assessment was carried out by Network Rail’s tree experts and environmental managers in conjunction with conservation experts to ensure that wildlife was not disturbed. The contractors worked to an agreed code of practice to notify residents in advance of the work and to ensure that noise and disruption to local residents was kept to an absolute minimum.             Network Rail Regional Director Robin Gisby said: “The stabilisation of this cutting embankment is part of Network Rail’s commitment to providing a safe and reliable rail network through the maintenance of our infrastructure.”