OREANDA-NEWS. A nine day closure of the Hope Valley line (2 April - 11 April) from Ashburys to Romiley and Marple Wharf Junction to New Mills Central allowed Network Rail’s ‘orange army’ to completely remove the railway track and ballast – the foundation stones which supports the tracks – and place a special waterproof system with new drainage along the viaduct before relaying the track ready for trains to run.

Engineers worked day and night to complete the vital refurbishments, including strengthening work to repair and stabilise the main supporting columns on each of the four corners of the viaduct to strengthen and protect the structure for many years to come.

The renovation of the Grade-II listed, 19th century-built structure forms part of Network Rail’s ?40bn Railway Upgrade Plan to build a better, safer, more reliable railway for Britain.

Network Rail worked closely with Northern – which operates services on the affected lines – throughout the project to keep passengers moving. Where possible train services were diverted and rail replacement services replaced some services.

Mark Ashton, Network Rail’s scheme project manager, said: “The Reddish viaduct is stunning and the work we completed over the past nine days means that it will remain that way for another century.

“Closing the line for this extended period maximised the work we could do, cut down on disruption to passengers and was a much more efficient way of working, saving significant amounts of taxpayers’ money.

“I appreciate this closure caused some disruption for passengers and I would like to thank them for their patience while we worked to protect this structure, keeping an iconic landmark safe and providing a better railway for the thousands of passengers and businesses who rely on it each day.”

Alex Hynes, Managing Director for Northern Rail, said: “Investment in infrastructure helps contribute to a real improvement in performance and reliability for our customers on this line of route. Future-proofing the railway helps create more travel opportunities for communities in the long term and helps deliver even more of our customers to and from cities like Manchester and Sheffield.”

The 16 span Reddish viaduct was built in 1875 and carries the rail line over the River Tame and Reddish Vale Country Park. A local legend states that during construction a local witch cursed the viaduct and anyone who counted the number of arches.

ENDS

About the Railway Upgrade Plan

The Railway Upgrade Plan is Network Rail’s ?40bn spending plan for Britain’s railways for the five year period up to 31 March 2019. The plan is designed to provide more capacity, relieve crowding and respond to tremendous growth the railways have seen – a doubling of passengers in the past twenty years. The plan will deliver a bigger, better railway with more trains, longer trains, faster trains with more infrastructure, more reliable infrastructure and better facilities for passengers, especially at stations.

About Network Rail

Network Rail owns, manages and develops Britain's railway - the 20,000 miles of track, 40,000 bridges and viaducts, and the thousands of signals, level crossings and stations (the largest of which we also run). In partnership with train operators we help people take more than 1.6bn journeys by rail every year - double the number of 1996 - and move hundreds of millions of tonnes of freight, saving almost 8m lorry journeys. We're investing ?40bn in the railway by 2019 through our Railway Upgrade Plan to deliver more frequent, more reliable, safer services and brighter and better stations.