Media centre

Sunday 22 Nov 2009

FELTHAM LINE TO REOPEN ON MONDAY

Region & Route:

Southern: Wessex

| Southern

- Normal train services expected from Monday 23 November

The busy section of railway track between Feltham and Twickenham which was closed following flood damage to the bridge over the River Crane last weekend is scheduled to re-open on Monday.

Network Rail engineers will continue to work around the clock and over the weekend to design and build a small, temporary loop around the section of track above the damaged arch on the adjacent land which was once occupied by the Feltham marshalling yard.  This will allow trains to cross the river safely while repairs to the permanent structure are carried out. 

Providing there are no unforeseen circumstances which delay the completion of the temporary track, it is anticipated that a normal train service will operate from the start of the day on Monday 23 November. 

Richard O'Brien, Network Rail's route director for Wessex, said: "Once we had established the level of damage the flood water had caused, we put all our effort into getting train services running as quickly as possible. The solution we've developed will allow passengers to make their journeys safely and with minimal disruption while we carry out the full repairs.“

Andy Pitt, managing director of South West Trains, added: "We apologise for any disruption passengers have experienced over the last week and would like to thank customers for their patience during what has been a challenging time.

“We recognise how important it is for passengers to have a through service restored as soon as possible and have worked extremely hard alongside Network Rail to try and ensure this will be the case from Monday. While there is still extensive repair work to be carried out on the bridge, the solution we have in place will ensure our customers can get back to normal and complete their journeys with minimal disruption.

"I would also like to thank our staff who have worked extremely hard to provide the service while the line was blocked last week."

The main arch of the bridge was damaged after prolonged and intense rainfall caused the River Crane to swell. The increased speed and turbulence of the water washed away some of the foundations of the 100-year-old bridge, causing part of brickwork to be dislodged.  Network Rail, in line with standard procedures, will carry out an investigation to establish whether there were any other factors which contributed to the damage caused to the arch.