Media centre

Friday 26 Aug 2022

Video: Network Rail completes major renewal project at historic Sudbrook pumping station

Region & Route:

Wales & Western: Wales & Borders

| Wales & Western

| Wales & Western: Western

We take you behind the scenes of a year-long project on one of the railway’s most historically innovative feats of engineering.

Sudbrook Pumping Station has been a working part of the railway between south Wales and England for more than 130 years.  

When construction began on the Severn Tunnel, beneath the Severn Estuary, in the 1800s, engineers discovered a natural spring. 

Efforts were then focused on constructing a drainage system that could continuously remove the excess spring water. 

Today, the pumps at Sudbrook continue to play their role on the railway and once every three decades, those pumps are replaced - a big task that Network Rail, and contractors Centregreat, have just completed this summer.

The installation 

Each pump weighs one and half tonnes and requires lifting out of a 60-metre-deep shaft. 

Once out, the pumps and rising tubes are taken apart by hand and the process is reversed to install their replacements. 

One pump can take up to a week to remove! 

Modernising Sudbrook Pumping station is one of many projects in recent years that are delivering improved journeys for passengers between Wales and England.

It follows the electrification of the Severn Tunnel itself which has significantly reduced journey times. 

The new pumps will ensure less closures of the tunnel for maintenance and improve journey reliability. 

Peter Caulfield, project manager at Network Rail said: “This was a once in a lifetime project that I am very proud to have been a part of.

“Through very careful planning, we were able to keep trains moving through the Severn Tunnel while we replaced the pumps - which meant no disruption for passengers.

"The new pumps also mean there will be fewer closures of the Severn Tunnel for maintenance in future, further improving the reliability of rail services for those travelling between south Wales and England."