Drivers advised to plan ahead as work begins on £1.5m Bedfordshire bridge strengthening scheme

Wednesday 15 Mar 2023

Drivers advised to plan ahead as work begins on £1.5m Bedfordshire bridge strengthening scheme

Region & Route:: Eastern

A £1.5 million programme to strengthen a railway bridge in Kempston Hardwick, Bedfordshire (pictured) will get underway this month to improve reliability for passengers.

Over the next five months, Network Rail engineers will repair and strengthen the steel girders, bridge deck and improve drainage and guttering on the structure which carries the Midland Main Line over the B530 Ampthill Road.

Reinforcing this important bridge which millions of rail passengers rely on each year when travelling between Luton and Bedford and further afield, will offer more reliable, on time journeys and mean that less maintenance work is needed for the next decade.

As part of the work, the B530 Ampthill Road will be closed to keep drivers and pedestrians safe on:

11pm Saturday 18 until 7am Sunday 19 March
11pm Saturday 25 until 7am Sunday 26 March
4pm Saturday 1 until 5am Monday 3 April
11pm Saturday 15 until 7am Sunday 16 April
11pm Saturday 22 until 7am Sunday 23 April
11pm Saturday 29 until 7am Sunday 30 April
6am Monday 8 May until 5pm Friday 14 July

A signed diversion will be in place via A6 Wixams Bypass, Wilstead Bypass, Ampthill to Mauden Bypass and Hazelwood Lane. Drivers should check their route with One.Network before setting off.

Ends

Notes to Editors

The work will also have an impact on rail services in the area - more details will follow nearer the time.

Contact information

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

Latest travel advice
Please visit National Rail Enquiries

Journalists
Lauren Summers
Media Relations Manager
Network Rail
lauren.summers@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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