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Tuesday 29 May 2007

UNDERGROUND RAIL LINES RE-OPEN

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Train services returned to normal this morning (29 May) following a five-week closure by Network Rail to renew the tracks under Liverpool city centre. The closure was the third phase of a £15 million programme and affected services to/from the Wirral. Liverpool's underground system is approximately four and a half miles long and consists of one single-track tunnel that dives under the River Mersey between Conway Park and Hamilton Square. It then goes round the city centre in a clockwise circle before re-emerging. Unlike conventional railway track that is made up of rails fastened to sleepers set in ballast (the grey stone chippings under the track), the Liverpool underground system has its rails directly fixed to a solid slab of concrete. For the past five weeks Network Rail has been renewing the section of track between James Street and Moorfields. This involved removing the old rails, breaking up the concrete and taking it away, then laying wooden shuttering which would form the moulds for the new slab. A total of 250 tonnes of concrete was then pumped from cement mixers situated in the car park at Liverpool Central station, through a ventilation shaft to the railway below. From Central station it was taken to the work site on a rail borne cement mixer and pumped into the mould. Once set, the Vipa base plates that hold the rails in place were positioned using laser technology to ensure accuracy, before holes were drilled in the concrete and the plates bolted down. The rails were then put back. Final part of the operation was to remove all the machinery and materials from the station platforms, which had been used as storage points, so that everything could be cleaned ready for passengers to be able to use again.