Work progressing well to repair damaged part of Severn Valley Railway's heritage line
Since late January, the Hampton Loade to Bridgnorth section has been shut following a landslip, with trains still running from Kidderminster to as far as they can go
The Severn Valley Railway project manager says he hopes they’ll be able to announce soon plans to re-open the full line.
Since late January, the Hampton Loade to Bridgnorth section has been shut following a landslip, with trains still running from Kidderminster to as far as they can go.
Severn Valley Railway (SVR) have reported 'significant progress' has been made with repairs to its failed embankment at Mor Brook bridge since specialist engineering contractors CML took possession of the site at the beginning of the month.
It says CML has already excavated more than 2,500 tonnes of material from the track formation and embankment, and has completed temporary culverting works on the watercourse below the bridge to facilitate full access to the embankment for plant and machinery.
Antony Bartlam is the project manager for Severn Valley Railway and he says the closure has impacted customer numbers and they are working to get things back to normal as soon as possible.
"“The landslip has caused a lot of problems for the railway,” he said.
“We’ve had a lot of events that have taken place that the numbers have been substantially down from what where we would normally expect.
“This really has been part of the problem of getting the railway back up and running again as quickly as possible to get those numbers back to where they would be.”
It was announced in April by the railway that the insurers had agreed to pay for the full reinstatement of the bridge’s wing wall and stone arch as well as the embankment itself, with the railway adding that the final costs would be significantly more than half a million pounds.
Mr Bartlam says CML will next be installing a concrete footing and lifting more than 100 concrete blocks, each weighing around 2.5 tonnes to form a solid structure.
“Whilst its still early days for the contractor on-site, they’re fairly confident on when they will now finish the works," he said.
“Once they have finished we still have the track to relay and we then have to do test runs on the track with trains to establish the stability of the works are suitable that we can start public services.”
A further announcement on when the line may fully re-open is expected next week.