New footbridge will make crossing the railway into the Lea Valley safer

Thursday 18 Jan 2018

New footbridge will make crossing the railway into the Lea Valley safer

Region & Route:: Eastern: Anglia; | Eastern

Pedestrians and cyclists who cross the railway at Slipe Lane, Broxbourne, will be able to do so more safely following the installation of a new footbridge as part of a £4m Network Rail project.

Work to install the bridge started in November last year and this weekend (Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 January) the footbridge, stairs and ramps will be put in place. Further work will take place the following weekend (Saturday 27 and 28 January) to finish off this part of the installation.

Following that, pathways and remedial works will take place and the footbridge will open later in the year. The footpath crossing will then close to pedestrians, with the footbridge creating a safer route to cross the railway.

Last year, there were 25 near misses at the crossing which is used by around 80 people every day, and where 378 trains pass at up to 80mph, making it one of the riskiest in the region.

Meliha Duymaz, Network Rail’s route managing director for Anglia, said: “This is a very popular crossing but the speed and frequency of the trains make it one of the riskiest. Replacing it with a new footbridge will provide a safer route to the Lea Valley for everyone. Level crossings remain one of the biggest risks to public safety on the railway and we are committed to closing them wherever possible to improve safety as part of our Railway Upgrade Plan."

For more information on level crossing safety visit www.networkrail.co.uk/levelcrossings.

Notes to Editors

The ramped footbridge meets with requirements in line with the Equality Act 2010.

Contact information

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Network Rail national helpline
03457 11 41 41

Latest travel advice
Please visit National Rail Enquiries

Journalists
Network Rail press office - Katie Mack
Media relations manager (Anglia route)
0330 8577 132
Katie.Mack@networkrail.co.uk

About Network Rail

We own, operate and develop Britain's railway infrastructure; that's 20,000 miles of track, 30,000 bridges, tunnels and viaducts and the thousands of signals, level crossings and stations. We run 20 of the UK's largest stations while all the others, over 2,500, are run by the country's train operating companies.

Usually, there are almost five million journeys made in the UK and over 600 freight trains run on the network. People depend on Britain's railway for their daily commute, to visit friends and loved ones and to get them home safe every day. Our role is to deliver a safe and reliable railway, so we carefully manage and deliver thousands of projects every year that form part of the multi-billion pound Railway Upgrade Plan, to grow and expand the nation's railway network to respond to the tremendous growth and demand the railway has experienced - a doubling of passenger journeys over the past 20 years.

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