Drop-in event to give details of “noisy” railway piling work planned for Patchway area

Network Rail piling carried out as part of its electrification work.

Patchway residents are invited to attend a drop-in event today (Monday 29th February) and learn about the work taking place in their area to prepare the Great Western Main Line for the arrival of a new fleet of electric trains.

The event will take place between 3pm and 7pm at the Aretians Rugby Club, Station Road, Little Stoke BS34 6HW. Members of the Network Rail project team will be on-hand throughout to explain the plans and to answer any questions.

The work forms part of Network Rail’s £40bn Railway Upgrade Plan to provide a bigger, better, more reliable railway for passengers and will involve the installation of overhead wires along two miles of railway from Patchway station to Cattybrook, including the Patchway tunnels. This overhead equipment is essential to power the new fleet of longer, faster, quieter and greener electric trains to run underneath.

The overhead lines will be installed using a process known as ‘piling’, which involves installing foundations in the ground to support the overhead gantries that will contain the electric wires.

Andrew Haynes, Network Rail’s project director for the west of England, said:

“We will do everything we can to limit the disruption to our neighbours. This phase of construction is particularly noisy and that’s why we would like to give those who live close to the railway as much notice as possible.”

“Piling is essential to pave the way for the long-term benefits that electric trains will bring. These benefits include faster trains with more seats and more legroom, and less noise and cleaner air for those living close to the railway.”

“Everyone is welcome at the drop-in and I’d urge anyone who wants to know more about our modernisation work, or has a question they’d like answered, to come along.”

For safety reasons piling can only take place when trains aren’t running and so tends to occur at night. Due to the disturbance piling can cause, Network Rail is limiting the overnight work in Patchway to Saturday nights between March and October. The exact timings of this work will be published in due course.

Related link: Great Western Electrification Programme (Network Rail)

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