Newbury station upgrade delayed

Cables put work on new footbridge behind

WORK to upgrade Newbury railway station has been hit by a slight setback.

A footbridge is being installed ahead of the new wave of electric trains that will run on the Newbury line from December 2018.

The current footbridge will be demolished after the new one is built at the opposite end of the station. Lifts are also set to be installed at the station to approve accessibility.

Network Rail said that the project was expected to be completed by February 2018, but the scheme has been hit by a minor delay.

As excavation work began, engineers uncovered service cables that it had not been aware of – where the old bay platform used to be.

Survey work, removal of the redundant cables and re-routing of the live ones had to be arranged, which added time to the project.

Part of the old platform wall, never removed when the platform was decommissioned, was also uncovered, which needed to be broken in order for the new bridge foundations to be laid.

However, Network Rail spokesman James Crook said that work was fully under way and that the new bridge was due to be installed by Christmas, but the lifts would not be ready until March next year.

Network Rail said that the new footbridge would improve access and allow it to install the electrical equipment necessary for the electric trains that will run on the line to Newbury.

Commuters will be able to use the current footbridge until the new one is completed.