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Tuesday 20 Apr 2004

GORTON GETS A CHALLENGING CLEAN UP

Region & Route:

As part of the ‘100 days to a cleaner city’ challenge Network Rail has worked in partnership with the Manchester City Council to clear fly tipping in the Gorton area of the borough.  Network Rail’s contractors, Edmund Nuttall Ltd, has recently been to a railway embankment site off Abey Hey Lane/Jetson Street to clear away rubbish from the side of the track. The embankments that were cleared are so steep that workers had to abseil with ropes attached to both themselves and large rubbish bags so that litter and objects could be removed on the way down. Fly tipping is illegal and the dumping of rubbish on railway land causes a huge problem for Network Rail, particularly at steep embankments such as those in Gorton.  It looks bad and gives visitors the wrong impression of the area; it encourages vermin such as rats and poses a potential hazard to the safe running of the railway if any objects fall on the tracks.  Network Rail regularly has to deal with objects as large as beds, refrigerators and bicycles, any of which could derail a train if they ended up on the tracks. Network Rail Community Relations Manager, Sarah McArdle said: “Network Rail is more than happy to work with local authorities and will support campaigns such as the Manchester City Council ‘100 Days’ campaign as it is important that we tackle the problem of fly tipping in the North West. - more - Gorton - 2 “This work isn’t just about clearing away other people’s rubbish; we would hope that by liasing with the council we can identify those few people who create the mess that gives the whole neighbourhood such a bad impression.” Anybody who sees someone in the act of fly tipping or putting obstructions on the line can report it direct to the British Transport Police on 0800 40 50 40, alternatively if anyone sees rubbish on railway land they can report it to the Network Rail National Helpline on 08457 11 41 41.