Media centre

Thursday 20 Apr 2006

KEEPING THE RAILWAY HIGH AND DRY

Region & Route:

| Wales & Western: Wales & Borders

| Wales & Western: Western

| Wales & Western

A £500,000 project to repair the sea defences at Old Colwyn in North Wales has been completed by Network Rail, ensuring the line between Colwyn Bay and Abergele & Pensarn remains reliable for passengers. The project installed 16,000 tonnes of granite and boulders – each weighing as much as six tonnes, which will protect the railway line from the sea. Andrew Skidmore, Network Rail’s General Manager for North Wales, said: “Some dramatic storms in the past few years have taken their toll on the existing sea defences, and we decided to act quickly to restore them, protecting the railway line and nearby footpath.” The project team completed the repairs in just ten weeks, and worked closely with the Environment Agency, the Countryside Commission for Wales and Dyfedd Council to ensure that an adjacent mussel bed and the public beach were protected during the work. Similar works started at Llanfairfechan in February and are due for completion at the end of April at a cost of £200,000.