Media centre

Wednesday 14 Feb 2018

Road closure as Midland Main Line Upgrade continues in Bedford

Region & Route:

| Eastern

The latest phase of the Midland Main Line Upgrade begins in Bedford next week as a major road bridge is reconstructed.

Ford End Road bridge will be raised to allow for the safe clearance of electric wires which will pass beneath it as work continues on electrifying the route between London, Kettering and Corby.

Once completed, the Midland Main Line Upgrade will create capacity to allow more trains to run and more people to travel along the length of the route from Sheffield through Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire and into London.

Due to the nature of the work, Ford End Road bridge will be closed to motorists from 09:00 on Monday, 19 February until August. A clearly signposted diversionary route will be in place, as well as traffic management which will be staffed and can be adapted according to traffic levels. Pedestrian access will be maintained throughout the work via the adjacent footbridge.

Rob McIntosh, Route Managing Director at Network Rail, said: “We are making the biggest investment in the Midland Main Line since it was first built in the 1870s and this upgrade will allow more trains to run along the route.

“As part of this upgrade, significant changes are needed to many parts of the railway infrastructure to allow overhead lines to be installed. This work is vital to delivering the railway of the future but such work does bring short term disruption to some communities near the railway.

“We’ve done as much improvement work to Ford End Road bridge as we can, but now we need a full road closure to complete the work. We’ve worked closely with Bedford Borough Council and other stakeholders to keep minimise disruption and we’d like to apologise for any disruption caused.”

ENDS