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Friday 2 Aug 2024

Canal users informed of urgent Scunthorpe railway bridge repairs

Region & Route:

Eastern

| Eastern: North & East

Railway engineers are working to repair a unique sliding swing bridge which takes trains over a canal in Lincolnshire after a fault with its mechanism.

Sensors on the structure in Keadby alerted Network Rail teams to a problem yesterday (Thursday 1 August).

Train services between Doncaster and Scunthorpe are unaffected with the bridge left in position to allow trains to keep running.

However, that means the Stainforth and Keadby canal is now temporarily closed to boaters while specialist teams make urgent repairs.

Canal users are advised to check for the latest information by visiting the 'notices' section of the Canal and River Trust website.

Toby Patrick Bailey, programme director for Network Rail’s North and East route, said: “We’re sorry to canal users who are being impacted by the fault with the sliding railway bridge in Keadby. Our teams are working as fast as they can to repair the mechanism. We’re in contact with the Canal and River Trust and we’ll work together to keep people informed about when the waterway can reopen.”

The fault with the mechanism involves a key component which allows the bridge to slide across the canal.

That particular part needs replacing and a new one is now being specially made.

Teams are working as fast as they can on the repair, with the hope the bridge will be fully operational again by the end of next week.

The historic structure is Britain’s only sliding railway bridge over a canal, with the original bridge dating back to the 1860s before it was converted into a sliding bridge in 1925.

The unique canal crossing connects trains between Doncaster, Scunthorpe and the Lincolnshire coast and is one of the busiest routes for freight trains in the country.