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Wednesday 24 Aug 2022

Endangered crayfish saved during Chase line railway upgrade in Cannock

Region & Route:

North West & Central

| North West & Central: West Coast Mainline South

Both rail passengers and an endangered species are benefiting from work to protect the Chase line in Staffordshire.

Network Rail ecologists have rescued 22 white clawed crayfish*, along with another 430 less rare fish, during work to upgrade a waterway culvert near Cannock.

The £700,000 investment will protect the tracks above on the important link from Walsall through Cannock to connect with the West Coast main line at Rugeley.

Brickwork in the Victorian-built culvert which diverts Wash Brook under the railway was starting to bow so it's been lined with pre-made Glass Reinforced Plastic piping to prevent the structure from future collapse.

Ten sections measuring 1.9m high, 3 metres long and each weighing 1.5 tonnes, have been winched into position and slid inside the existing structure.

To do this the watercourse needed to be drained with specialist ecologists there to make sure no wildlife was harmed.

As the water was lowered, any fish which became marooned were safely caught and released further downstream.

To avoid distressing the fish they are gently stunned using a low electric current which passes through the water so they can be caught in nets.

They are then placed in a bucket and logged before they are released back into the open water.

Andrew Campuzano, Network Rail ecologist, said: “We weren’t expecting to find white clawed crayfish here, and because they are so rare, we notified the Environment Agency then took extra care to relocate them downstream.

“This has been a complex project to help water flow more freely under the railway to protect the Chase line above and provide a more reliable railway for passengers and freight. We do all of this in tandem with making sure any work we do has minimal impact on the environment.”

As part of the work the Network Rail team has also secured the brook's banks from washing away residents' back gardens.

During heavy rain the waterway can flood and over the years has destabilised the soil.

Now a new wall has been built using concrete-filled sandbags and some garden fencing is being repaired.

Mike Lally, Network Rail Works Delivery manager, said: "This has been a challenging job and it's one of the first I've done using Glass Reinforced Plastic to line a culvert like this. It's all be done in collaboration with the Environment Agency and our ecologists overseeing the work to make sure it has the least impact on the brook itself.

"We've been scoping this job for a couple of years so it's great to get in and get it done while at the same time securing the banks from erosion and protecting our railway neighbours' gardens."

The essential safety work on the Chase line is being carried out until October.

Once complete it will secure the railway above for more reliable passenger and freight journeys on the economically important route through the West Midlands.