Friday 28 Jul 2017
South Gloucestershire set to benefit from new flood alleviation scheme
- Region & Route:
- Wales & Western: Western
- | Wales & Western
Passengers travelling through South Gloucestershire are to benefit from a new flood alleviation scheme to improve the resilience of the railway at Chipping Sodbury.
The railway between the former Badminton station and the Kingrove stream has been subject to flooding on a regular basis, caused by a combination of ground and surface water.
Network Rail will expand the existing storage lagoon to hold around 11 million litres of water – as much as four and-a-half Olympic swimming pools.
Network Rail will also install a new pumping system to take excess rain water into the newly-enlarged storage lagoon more quickly when flooding occurs, improving the resilience of the railway.
Improving the resilience of the railway in the region will not only mean fewer trains are cancelled during extreme weather, but will also mean that services can be back up and running at a quicker rate, improving reliability for passengers.
This work gets underway today, Friday 29 July, and is due to finish in May 2018.
Local residents that may be affected by this work have been notified and Network Rail have hosted two well-attended public drop-in sessions to keep the local community informed of the work taking place.
The Chipping Sodbury project is one of a number of schemes under the Department for Transport’s Flood Resilience Programme. This £26.5m programme was established after extreme weather in 2012 and 2014 caused extensive disruption to the rail network.
The aim of the programme is to reduce the risk of flooding at key locations in the Thames Valley and south west and ensure that when flooding does occur, train services can be resumed at a quicker rate, reducing disruption for passengers.
Philip Morton, project manager for Network Rail, said: “I would like to thank passengers and residents for their patience while we undertake this vital work as part of our Railway Upgrade Plan to improve reliability and resilience of the railway through South Gloucestershire.
“Our public drop-in sessions have proven to be a success with more than 100 local residents attending to find out more about the work taking place and the benefits it will bring. Those that couldn’t make these events are welcome to call our national helpline with any concerns or questions about this work.”
Network Rail’s national helpline is available 24/7 for residents and passengers with any questions or concerns about this work on 03457 11 41 41.
More information about the work can be found at: https://www.networkrail.co.uk/westernupgrade
More information about how flooding on the railway causes delays – and what we’re doing to reduce it: https://www.networkrail.co.uk/running-the-railway/looking-after-the-railway/delays-explained/flooding/
ENDS
Notes to Editors
Notes to Editors
Work is due to begin on 29 July 2017 and we expect to finish in May 2018.
29 July to 18 August 2017
Our normal working hours will be from c07.00 to c18.00 Monday to Friday and from c22.00 on Saturdays to c09.00 on Sundays while we clear the existing track drainage.
19 to 23 August 2017
We will be working around the clock while trains are not running. A section of the siding will be removed and we’ll excavate to a depth of 5m to allow us to install the new drainage pipe. We will then relay the track and follow up with a process known as tamping, which can be noisy, throughout the day on 23 August 2017, when a machine is used to pack the track ballast under the railway tracks to make them more durable.
24 August to 26 September 2017
Our normal working hours will be from c07.00 to c18.00 Monday to Friday and from c22.00 on Saturdays to c09.00 on Sundays. Further tamping is planned for overnight 23 September 2017.
26 September 2017 to May 2018
We’ll continue to work from c07.00 to c18.00 Monday to Friday. We’ll also be working from c07.00 to c18.00 on some Saturdays and Sundays [to be confirmed].
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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