A railway bridge in Portsmouth, which is 142 years old, is set to be replaced next month by a multi-million-pound investment to improve reliability on South Western Railway services.
Network Rail and its ‘orange army' will be working around the clock for 5 days to replace Burnaby Road bridge and complete the necessary track work.
The new bridge is being made in Lanarkshire using only steel made in Britain.
The original look of the bridge will be reflected in the new structure. The bridge will be painted in cream and ‘night blue' – the colours of the Portsmouth crest.
The existing bridge already has load restrictions, this limits freight train use and passenger train usage would also be restricted in the future if this work was not carried out.
The bridge work will take place from Monday 12th February until Friday 16th February 2018 during the spring half term, where fewer passengers travel.
The line between Portsmouth Harbour and Portsmouth and Southsea will be closed from 1.15 am on Monday the 12th and will reopen at 6 am on Saturday 17th.
A limited train service will run from 8 pm until the end of service on Sunday 11th February 2018.
Bus replacement services will be in operation every 10 minutes from 6 am until 11.20pm during the closures.
Portsmouth Harbour station will remain open for pedestrians travelling to and from the ferry port.
What did the officials say?
Stuart Kistruck, director of route asset management for Network Rail's Wessex route, said “This crossing is a very important part of our network – 113,000 trains pass over it every year carrying 4 million passengers. After such heavy traffic over such a long period of time, the old bridge is not strong enough. Investing £2.7 million to replace it now as part of our Railway Upgrade Plan will mean we can provide a reliable service for our passengers for the future. We thank people for their patience while we carry out this work. We know it will be disruptive and we are doing all we can to keep that to a minimum.”
Alan Penlington, Customer Experience Director for South Western Railway, said We're sorry for the inconvenience this will cause while Portsmouth Harbour station is closed for Network Rail to carry out these vital works. Modernising the bridge and tracks will mean we can reliably run our services in this key area of the railway for many more years to come, which will ultimately benefit passenger journeys. During the works, buses will replace all trains between Portsmouth and Southsea / Portsmouth Harbour. Those travelling to the Isle of Wight will also need to allow extra time for their connections. We're doing all we can to minimise disruption and make sure we get all our customers to their destination during this time but strongly advise they plan ahead and check our website before they travel.”
- Visit the South Western Railway Website
For more information
