Great Western Main Line electrification work experiencing delays (merged topic, ongoing discussion)

[whole diary]

[ray951]

This made me laugh, although I guess if I had been at the meeting I would have annoyed at the waste of time, assuming it was as described.
http://www.heraldseries.co.uk/news/10883600.Residents_meet_rail_bosses_about_proposed_closure_of_A338/?ref=mr

[trainer]

One wonders whether the parish council called the meeting despite NR^» (Network Rail - home page) telling them it was not able to provide the information demanded.  Had NR not turned up they could have been accused of failing to co-operate with the locals.  Hopes seem to have been raised that NR was ready with a plan, but perhaps local politicians were trying to force their hand. 

Just a theory based on a newspaper report, so almost certainly totally erroneous!

[DidcotPunter]

One wonders whether the parish council called the meeting despite NR^» (Network Rail - home page) telling them it was not able to provide the information demanded.  Had NR not turned up they could have been accused of failing to co-operate with the locals.  Hopes seem to have been raised that NR was ready with a plan, but perhaps local politicians were trying to force their hand. 

Just a theory based on a newspaper report, so almost certainly totally erroneous!

I was at the meeting and it was a shambles. The parish council had called the meeting prematurely as Network Rail and Oxfordshire County Council have not yet agreed the bridge closure plan. I don't know why NR and OCC hadn't checked out expectations beforehand either.

The A338 closure will cause complete chaos locally as it's the main route out of Wantage and Grove to Oxford and Abingdon.  The diversion originally proposed by NR through local villages isn't fit for purpose and the alternative via the A417 and A34 is both lengthy and congested.

Earlier this year Network Rail told me that the bridge replacement works at Wantage Road were due to start in Feb 2014 and last for around 8 weeks. Clearly that is now not going to happen - they've found that a lot more work needs to be done in terms of strengthening the abutments and realigning the road, so the works are going to take much longer. NR weren't specific about this at the meeting (which many people took as evasive) but I did hear 13 weeks mentioned by someone.

Obviously the work has to be done and we're all looking forward to the wires going up and shiny new trains but this does need to be better thought out.  Maybe that is what NR and OCC are now doing but I'm not getting my hopes up.

Locally we've also got the A417 bridge at Challow Station to be replaced.  This was due to happen in September next year and take 8 weeks.  Since both bridges are very similar in structure and age, I wouldn't be surprised if similar issues arise here!

[didcotdean]

Report on BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) Oxford TV this evening suggested the closure might need to be as much as 6 months although it wasn't clear where that figure came from. OCC representative seemed to be supporting the need for a temporary replacement.

[DidcotPunter]

Network Rail told us that 6 months is the standard closure period that they apply for - working on the worst case scenario. Clearly the actual work is most unlikely to take that long, but the application got picked up by Grove parish council and the local press, also NR^» (Network Rail - home page) were unable to give a definitive closure duration to refute it, hence the resultant uproar.

A replacement temporary bridge was one of the few sensible suggestions to come out of the meeting.  This idea was supported by the OCC Highways rep, though NR kept quiet as I doubt that they had budgeted that cost.  There is room for a temporary bridge to the east of the existing one at Wantage Road so this would be feasible. Further west at Challow Station on the A417 this would be more difficult as there are light industrial premises located to the west of the bridge and a signal gantry to the east. So I'm expected a lengthy closure here later next year.

[paul7575]

Network Rail told us that 6 months is the standard closure period that they apply for - working on the worst case scenario.

...and all local and national media report on the worst case scenario, because they only deal in bad news.  Many of these bridge replacements turn out much quicker than the worst case, much of which is taken up by utility diversions and the like, and that is often done with temporary traffic lights and single lane working.

The major replacement in Winchester a few years back attracted all the same headlines, but at the end of the day people just got on with their lives with fairly long diversions.

Whitchurch (Hants) was completely cut off from the north for some months when its rail bridge was replaced as well, that meant a long diversion the wrong way via the A303/A34 junction at Bullington Cross.  People coped. 

Meanwhile as hinted at above, Parish Councils aren't the decision making organisation in these matters.  Wait and see what Oxfordshire CC come up with...

Paul

[ChrisB]

That would be Oxfordshire CC, me thinks - not Oxford City Council....

[paul7575]

That would be Oxfordshire CC, me thinks - not Oxford City Council....

Yes of course, I'll fix it.

[didcotdean]

NR^» (Network Rail - home page) haven't done a very good job on the local PR^▸ (Public Relations) front. Parish Councils may not have any specific decision making responsibility but through Oxfordshire and Berkshire contain many people with local influence in higher spheres and with particular relevance to things like this, top quality lawyers. They have come across as under-prepared and secretive. I am surprised after how they dealt with Fulscot Bridge that they haven't improved their procedures and methods of working.

[Chris from Nailsea]

A very similar furore arose over Network Rail's proposals for the recent work at Ansford Bridge in Somerset - which we discussed at http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=11198.0

[bobm]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page)

Network Rail said electrification work should be finished by the end of 2016

Train franchise set for extension

Work on part of the ^1bn project to electrify the Great Western railway line through Wiltshire is in "chaos", a local councillor has claimed.

Network Rail is rebuilding bridges along the route to provide space for overhead lines as part of the project.

Wiltshire Council said this had caused disruption because proper planning and surveys were not carried out.

Network Rail insisted it had put the correct procedures in place and liaised with councils on the project.

Wiltshire Council deputy leader John Thomson said the authority was "very disappointed" in how the work had been planned.

He said entire communities had been "blocked off from using the roads", causing a "real problem".

'Inaccurate' claims
 
Mr Thomson described the project as "chaos", citing a number of issues since work started which were not part of "normal construction planning".

He claimed Network Rail failed to survey the bridges to find out what wildlife was living in them, and when work started the company found that buttresses were collapsing and in need of being rebuilt.

A Network Rail spokesman said the chaos claim was "inaccurate" and said it had carried out "comprehensive surveys" on all the structures.

He added that delivering the structures on time was a "considerable challenge".

The company apologised for the disruption and said work to raise the bridges should be completed by April.

[eightf48544]

Interesting I heard a rumour on Monday night that Oxfordshire CC had stopped Network Rail closing a bridge for rebuilding on the main road to Wantage. As it woiuld be long diversion and not suitable for buses.

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Western Daily Press:

Railway scheme is 'incredibly hard'

Network Rail bosses admitted yesterday that a three-month project to replace a key bridge to allow electrification work on the Great Western mainline is set to over-run by four more months.

They told villagers living on the South Gloucestershire-Wiltshire border that their 'main priority' was to make sure work on the bridge at Acton Turville was completed before this year's Badminton Horse Trials, which take place a mile away in early May.

The work on the bridge was originally supposed to be finished before Christmas, and council chiefs in Wiltshire are now summoning Network Rail to a meeting to talk about the next stage of the project, which looks set to bring major disruption in and around Royal Wootton Bassett and Lyneham.

After Saturday's Western Daily Press revealed the extent of the problems faced by Network Rail and its contractors Balfour Beatty, Network Rail have finally given a new date for the completion of the most troublesome part of the work to date.

The firm is lifting and replacing a whole host of bridges along the railway line from Swindon to Bristol Parkway and the mainline to Bath and Bristol to allow electrification systems to be installed.

But the project has been hit by a series of calamities, including the discovery of bats roosting under the bridge at Acton Turville, a 350ft crane falling into a ditch on the Fosse Way as it tried to access another remote spot on the Cotswolds, and endless rain and high winds stopping work for days at a time.

In an email to outraged parish councillors and residents in villages around the Acton Turville bridge, a new date for completion was revealed. The main road across that part of the Cotswolds, the B4040 from Yate to Malmesbury, has been closed since September for a project that was supposed to take three months.

"As it stands at the moment, our programme of works will be complete on April 17, 2014," a Network Rail spokesman told Luckington parish councillor John Buckley. "We endeavour to try and make efficiencies on the programme where possible, but obviously our main priority is making sure that we are complete prior to the Badminton Horse Trials."

A spokesman for Network Rail told the Western Daily Press: "Things have been incredibly hard, and there have been lots of issues with the work. The discovery of bats is one thing, but the weather itself has been the worst, with heavy rain making the ground saturated. The high winds have meant it has been impossible at times to work. If it is a choice between working with these cranes in high winds and being safe, safety comes first."

The continued closure of the B4040 looks set to postpone another planned closure ^ this time for emergency sewage repairs ^ a few miles to the east, which were scheduled for Easter.

Local councillor John Thomson happens to be Wiltshire Council's cabinet member for highways, and he is summoning Network Rail to a meeting to discuss the ongoing problems.

Allison Bucknell, Lyneham's councillor, said Wiltshire was working hard with Network Rail to give residents the most possible notice of road closures, but as a statutory body, Network Rail had the power to order road closures with just a couple of weeks' notice.

A meeting of councillors from the affected areas, with Network Rail, is scheduled to take place in February.

[paul7575]

Interesting I heard a rumour on Monday night that Oxfordshire CC had stopped Network Rail closing a bridge for rebuilding on the main road to Wantage. As it would be long diversion and not suitable for buses.

We discussed it in mid December here:

http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=5066.msg144753#msg144753

I thought at the time, and still think, that the local politicians (who aren't necessarily in the loop on these decisions) see it as their big opportunity.   Whether or not they have any effect is another matter...

Paul

[DidcotPunter]

Interesting I heard a rumour on Monday night that Oxfordshire CC had stopped Network Rail closing a bridge for rebuilding on the main road to Wantage. As it would be long diversion and not suitable for buses.

We discussed it in mid December here:

http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=5066.msg144753#msg144753

I thought at the time, and still think, that the local politicians (who aren't necessarily in the loop on these decisions) see it as their big opportunity.   Whether or not they have any effect is another matter...

Paul

It's more than a rumour - OCC have not agreed to the plans originally presented to Network Rail to close the A338 north of Wantage to replace the overbridge on the site of the old Wantage Road station. Given the strength of local feeling it was a reasonable decision - the proposed diversionary routes were either too long - via the A417 and A34, or completely impractical - through narrow lanes to the villages of Denchworth and Hanney. I understand from a meeting I attended in Grove that OCC and NR^» (Network Rail - home page) are discussing the possibility of erecting a temporary bridge alongside the old one while it is demolished and replaced. This would be a much better option but I have no idea on whether this will be agreed.