90 •TheRailway Magazine•August2019
Severn Beach
improvements
JULYand early -August saw
Network Rail undertake repairs
to track work on the Severn
Beach branchin Bristol.
Aredundantset of points
wasreplaced by plai ntrack at
Clifton Down, alevel crossing
at AvonmouthDockWest
wasresurfacedand newrails
installed,and new trackwas
installedbetween St Andrews
Road levelcrossing and
Avonmouth station.
Work wasexpected to be
complete byAugust 10.Longer platforms on
TyneValleyline
PRUDHOE,RidingMill and
Bardon Mill stationson the
TyneValley line have all had
their platformsextendedin
recent months.The changes
willallowlonger trainsto serve
thestations as partofawider
improvementofNorthern
services between Newcastle
and Carlisle.GAcommuters
switchto smartcards
GREATERAnglia hasseena
dramatic increasein Smart
Card use over th elast year,
with 94.6% of annualseason
tickets holdersand 84%of
monthlyticketholde rs now
preferring themoredurableand
convenientplasti ccards over
paper tickets.
GA processedmorethan
48,000replacementsand
exchangesforfaultymagnetic
stripe paperseason tickets in- Bycomparison, thefailure
rate of SmartCards wasjust 625
–less than 0.05%.
Funding boost
forcycle facilities
MOREthan£2millionis being
spent on improving facilities
forcyclists at stations across
the SouthWester nRailway and
Grea terAnglianetworks.
GA hasreceived £1.1mfrom
theDepartmentforTransport
to add510 extracycle spaces,
CCTVand improve dlighting at
seven stations,while another
£1mhas been spentons imilar
improvementsat 11 stations
inWiltshire, Hampshire, Dorset
andDevon.Deansgate bridge
restoration project
AVICTORIANrailway bridge
at Deansgate in central
Manche ste rwillber estored
over thecomingmonths.
Thebridgewillbedeep-
clean ed,repairedand repainted
by the sameteam that has
beenworkingin recent months
to restor ethree Grade-II listed
structures near Manche ster
Victoria to their former glory.
Thework isexpectedtobe
complete bymid-December.Carstairsto be
remodelled?
PLANSarebeing drawnupfor
thecomplete remodelling ofthe
triangularjuncti on at Carstairs in
Lana rkshire. No budget hasyet
been setforthe majorproject,
but thecost of rebuilding the
severely speed-restrictedcurves
and junctionslinking theWest
Coast Main LinetoEdinburgh
is estimatedataround
£150million.SIDELINES
Stoneblower derailmentcauses chaosatVictoria
GATWICK Express andSouthern
services suffered severe
disruption on July9after a
Network Rail stoneblower
derailedat LondonVictoria.
Thevehicles had beenengaged inovernighttrack
maintenanceint he station
throatwhen one of the three
sections became derailed on
pointwork at around 03.00.
GEX servicesweresuspendedand Southern operatedan
emergencytimetable with
cancellations and diversions
formuch of the daywhile NR
recovered the stricken machines.
JAMIE SQUIBBSTHE North Norfolk Railway
(NNR) has launcheda£35,000
appealto cover thecosts
of transporting Reedham
Junction signalboxinNorfolk
to its new locationat Holt,and
its restor ation asaworking
museum,reportsRichardHorner.
The1904-built GreatEastern
Railway‘box has beengifted to
the NNRby Network Rail
(RMMay, p85), but the funding
is requiredto co verremovaland
transportcosts,construction of
foundations andabrick base
at Holt,re-erection,restor ation
of rotten woodwork and
repainting.
Volunteers have already
removedelectrical and
mechanical equipmentfor safe
storage in advanceofthe move.
Further details can befound
on the NNRwebsiteat:
http://www.nnrailway.co.ukLandorStreetbridgereopens –
with awarning from NetworkRail
ARAILWAYbridge struckby
lorries 32 times since2009
reopenedto road traffic in July
afterafive-month closureto
repair damaged sustained in
January.
Thebridge,which carries
the Camp Hill lineover Landor
Street in theBordesley Green
area of Birmingham, hadto be
closedforrepair,and acollision
protection beam, damaged
beyondrepair on January9after
10 years ofcont inu al bridge
bash es,had to be replaced.
Anew steel protection beam
wasdue to be installedby
late-July to protectthe bridge
from futurecollisions.However,
Network Rail warned lorry
driversto be awareofthe height
of theirvehiclesto prevent
further incidents.
Piers Burford ,NRproject
manager,said:“ConsiderableBetter signagefor saferprivate levelcrossings
IMPROVEDsignageto protect
motorists and pedestrians
using private levelcrossings
could be introduced under
plans announcedby the
GovernmentonJuly 27.
TheDepartmentforTransport
has worked closely withOffice
of Rail and Road(ORR) and
Network Rail sinceAugust 2018
to update andimprovesignage
forprivate levels crossings.
New designs have been
tested at Cannock Chase
in Staffordshire, andthe
Governmentnow intends toupdate legislation, allowing the
new designsto be introduced
from 2020.
Themovefollows afatal
collision between atrain and a
vanataprivate crossing in Kent
in October2017.
Private levelcrossings
areregarded as one of the
most significantrisks to safe
operation of therailway as
gatesare oftenmanually
operated, with somerequiring
usersto te lephone signallers
beforecrossing.
Thereare around 2,500private crossings on the
UK network,representing
morethan athirdofall level
crossings.
Many private crossingswere
provided to maintain access
forprivate land owners,such
as farmers,int he earlyyears of
railways.
However, in recent years the
profile of users has diversified
significantlyto include delivery
drivers and the public,many
of whom areunfamiliar with
the crossings and howtouse
them safely.NNR launch es
Reedham
signalbox
appeal
Reedham Junction signalbox
on October 2, 2018, beforeit
wastaken out of operational
use.RICHARD HORNERMOREthan 15,000 metres of
new fencing and gatesare
being installedat 300 stations
acrossLondon and the
south-east of England as part
of a£2.3million campaignto
reducetrespassing.
Thework has been funded
from the £300mGovernment
grantto improvethe resilience
of therailway in south-east
England andreducedisruption
on thecountr y’sbusiestroutes.
John Halsall,Southern Region
managing director, said:“This
work is absolutely critical,not
just forthe people risking their
lives by walkin gonthe railway,
but alsoforpassengersbecause
of the obvious disruption that
trespassing creates.
“This year,we’ve seenarecord
number ofyoung peoplekilled
or injured on the tracks across
the countr y.”
Theprojectincludes £1mfor
barriersat theend of platforms
at almost 300stations,£500,000
forfenceimprovements around
East Croydon and Brighton,
and £800,000foranti-trespass
measuresat eighthotspots.
Thework is scheduledto be
finished in the summer of 2020.Station fencing
campaign to
redu ce trespass
efforts have been made in
the pastto protectthis bridge
from damage.Without a
collision protection beam inplacethe bridge is vulnerable,
with potentially catastrophic
consequences should it be hitby
avehicle again.”Landor Street bridge,Birmingham, with its newprote ctionbeam.
Inset:Thecracked protection beam.NETWORK RAILNetwork TrackRecord