Trains Back On Track After Repairs To Unsafe Nuneham Viaduct
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
This is the sub-heading.
Rail services between Didcot and Oxford have resumed after a two-month line closure caused by an unsafe viaduct.
These are the first two paragraphs.
Services had been expected to resume on Saturday but the first passenger train ran on the line earlier.
Nuneham Viaduct, which crosses the River Thames near Abingdon, was declared unsafe on 3 April.
It looks like it was a job well done.
The Anonymous Widower 
a job well done probably quicker and cheaper as it was a crisis which always brings out the best in the industry
Comment by Nicholas Lewis | June 10, 2023 |
Couldn’t agree with you more and like the emergency work done to repair and reinforce the Dawlish seafront route it shows what can be done when there’s the will.
Having said that the state of the ageing railway infrastructure is liable to be a ticking time bomb. Network Rail’s Strategic Plan observes that rail freight is expected to continue to grow in CP7 by 7.5%.
It seems that load-carrying capacity of many bridges are being overloaded. While these bridges are cleared to carry 22.8 tonnes axle loads they are currently being derogated to accept axle loads up to 25.4 tonnes. As Nuneham is on the designated Southampton – West Midlands freight perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised that it became compromised.
Where will the next Nuneham occur?
Network Rail’s report further highlights that 80% of metal bridges were built before 1900, a marked increase of more than 5 times that reported in 2012. Around 12% of NR’s metal bridges are now considered to be in ‘poor or very poor condition’ requiring a potentially overwhelming increase in the volumes maintenance to address defects and failures.
Without further investment does NR enforce the classification of the load capacity for these bridges and curtail the expansion of the freight railway or risk further disruption of Britain’s railways? Either way it could keep large volumes of trucks on the road for many years to come.
Comment by fammorris | June 16, 2023 |