OREANDA-NEWS. Hasan Shah, project manager for Network Rail, said: “This bridge was constructed in 1905 and so is approaching the end of its working life. Replacing it is a must-do job. There's never an ideal time to do this kind of work but it's quieter on weekends so the impact on customers is minimised."

This GBP 2m railway upgrade, on an un-named road beneath the line at Blunts Green, Warwickshire, requires a full closure of the line between Stratford-on-Avon and Birmingham Snow Hill stations from late Friday night to early Monday morning. Buses will replace trains for London Midland customers during that time.

London Midland head of Snow Hill services, Brenda Lawrence, said: “We realise that a replacement bus service is never going to be as attractive as taking the train, however railways and roads have to maintained. It is better that the work is done now rather than in the week or during the busier weeks ahead.”

Passengers are, as always, advised to check before they travel on nationalrail.co.uk.

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 1.65bn journeys by rail every year and move hundreds of millions of tonnes of freight, saving almost 8m lorry journeys. We employ 36,000 people across Britain and work round-the-clock, each and every day, to provide a safe, reliable railway.

About the Railway Upgrade Plan

The Railway Upgrade Plan is Network Rail's investment plan for Britain's railways. It makes up two-thirds of Network Rail's £40bn spending priorities for the five years to 2019 and represents the biggest sustained programme of rail modernisation since the Victoria era. It is designed to provide more capacity, relieve crowding and respond to the tremendous growth Britain's railways continue to experience; passenger numbers have doubled in the past 20 years and are set to double again over the next 25 years - so we need to continue to invest in building a bigger, better railway. For passengers, that means:

    longer, faster more frequent trains;
    better, more reliable infrastructure; and
    better facilities for passengers, especially at stations.