Media centre

Tuesday 22 Nov 2005

UPPER GUNGATE BRIDGE WORKS PUT BACK TO AVOID CHRISTMAS RUSH

Region & Route:

Network Rail has decided, following further discussions with Staffordshire County Council and Tamworth Borough Council to postpone works at Upper Gungate bridge until after the Christmas holidays to reduce the impact on shoppers driving into town. The work is part of the Trent Valley Four Tracking (TV4) project and Network Rail has been working hard to make sure that this work can be carried out without closing the road. One of the busiest junctions in Tamworth, the Upper Gungate road bridge goes over the West Coast Mainline which is to be extended from two lines to four lines for a much improved railway. In order to do this major work, the bridge has to be rebuilt to fit the additional two tracks under it. Senior Programme Manager for TV4 Keith Riley said: “We are delaying starting work on Upper Gungate bridge until early next year so that we can be sure it can be carried out with minimum disruption. By doing this we can avoid adding extra pressure to this busy junction at peak traffic and trading times before Christmas. We will keep people informed of the work before it starts in early January.” Anyone with any questions or concerns should contact the Network Rail 24 hour helpline on 08457 114141. For more information visit www.networkrail.co.uk and view the engineering and projects pages.