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Friday 5 Sep 2008

BACK TO NORMAL FOR CHORLEY COMMUTERS

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Rail services between Chorley and Preston will return to normal on Monday (8 September) following the successful completion of the £5.5m 'Flying Arches' improvement work by Network Rail.

'Thank you' posters on behalf of Network Rail, First TransPennine Express and Northern will be put up this weekend at all stations affected by the work, as a way of thanking passengers who have been inconvenienced.

Network Rail will also take the unusual step of showing a time-lapse video of the work to passengers on Chorley station on Monday, so they can see just what was involved in this complicated project.

Route director Peter Strachan praised both his own workers and those of principal contractor Birse Rail: "We have had up to 40 people at a time on site, working round the clock in some pretty bad conditions. We all know how wet August has been, and the ground conditions were atrocious at times so all credit is due to the entire team for delivering the work well ahead of schedule."

The line has been closed for the last six weeks while engineers removed 16 Grade II listed gritstone arches which were installed in 1841 to support the walls of the railway cutting. They were replaced with temporary galvanised steel arches to maintain the support.

Removal of the arches allowed Network Rail to pin back the walls with ground anchors or soil nails and install sheet piling either side of the cutting to deal with ground water. A six foot drainage system was buried two metres below ground to cope with what was always a problem area for flooding.

The track bed was then covered with a geotextile matting to separate it from the ground before the new ballast, sleepers and track were laid in position.

The entire project has been completed some 48 hours ahead of schedule but the train service alterations will remain in place over the weekend.