Passengers and residents in Cheltenham to benefit from level crossing upgrade

Friday 18 Nov 2016

Passengers and residents in Cheltenham to benefit from level crossing upgrade

Region & Route:: | Wales & Western: Western; | Wales & Western

Passengers and residents in Cheltenham will soon benefit from a safer, more reliable level crossing on Alstone Lane as Network Rail prepares to carry out a full renewal of the crossing’s equipment.

The equipment that makes up the crossing has come to the end of its natural life and will be replaced in its entirety to improve reliability and increase the safety of passengers and the public as part of Network Rail’s Railway Upgrade Plan to provide a bigger, better and more reliable railway.

The work is extensive and will involve renewing the barrier, the machine that operates the barrier and the warning lights, more commonly known as ‘wig wags’. The orange army will also be renewing the devices that emit the warning sounds, creating suitable housing for the machine that operates the barrier, and installing new cabling, signage and road markings.

Due to the nature of this work, a temporary road closure is required for nine days from 11pm on Saturday, 26 November to 9am on Sunday, 4 December 2016. During this time, a diversionary route, agreed in conjunction with Gloucestershire County Council, will be in place.

While the level crossing will be closed to road traffic, the appointed contractor will have level crossing pedestrian attendants stationed either side of the crossing; the attendants will escort pedestrians over the crossing after speaking to the signaller to ensure that it is safe to do so.

Bogdan Lupa, Network Rail’s project manager for the scheme said: “I’d like to thank residents in advance for their patience and understanding while we carry out this essential upgrade as part of our Railway Upgrade Plan. Once complete, the work will improve the reliability of the crossing for those who use it every day.”

ENDS

Notes to editors

Details of the temporary road closures are as follows:

11pm on Saturday, 26 November to 9am on Sunday, 4 December 2016

Diversion: Alstone Lane – Brooklyn Road – Arle Road – Gloucester Road – Alstone Lane

Contact information

Passengers / community members
Network Rail national helpline
03457 11 41 41

Latest travel advice
Please visit National Rail Enquiries

Journalists
Network Rail press office -Western route
MediaRelationsWestern@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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