Media centre

Wednesday 20 Nov 2019

Harbury residents invited to learn more about railway embankment upgrade

Region & Route:

North West & Central

Residents in Warwickshire are invited to find out more about a major piece of work to protect the Chiltern main line from landslips.

The £9m investment near Harbury, between Leamington Spa and Banbury, will stabilise half a mile of railway along the busy route.

Network Rail’s vital work - on the south side of Harbury Tunnel - will mean Chiltern Railways and CrossCountry passengers will continue to benefit from a safe and reliable service on the line between London and the West Midlands.

The work will start in December and will take up to a year to complete but there will be no disruption to passengers and train services will continue to run as normal.

The cutting, at the rear of the Churchlands Business Park, will be made less steep and pinned using large nails and piles to make it more stable. A new retaining wall will also be built at the bottom of the slope to help prevent soil movement.

The work is the latest in the area to stabilise railway embankments following emergency repairs to a 300,000 tonne landslip on the north side of Harbury Tunnel which closed the railway for eight weeks in early 2015.

The public information event will take place between 4pm and 6.30pm on Wednesday 27 November at Harbury Village Library, High Street, Harbury, CV33 9HW. Network Rail will be on hand to answer questions and provide more information to local people.

Luke Swain, senior asset engineer at Network Rail, said: “This £9 million investment and strengthening scheme by Harbury Tunnel will help keep the Chiltern main line through the area safe and reliable for passengers and freight for decades to come.

“We want to be a good neighbour and are keen to discuss with local people what the work is, why it is essential and how we will deliver it.”

This large-scale project will be delivered in two phases. The first phase involves building a temporary access road for users of the Harbury Business Park.

The second part involves the use of the existing road to carry out the earthwork repairs. The original access road will then be returned to the Business Park once the work is completed.