Public meeting on Ufton Nervet bridge plans

Plans for change put forward 11 years after incident in which seven people were killed

Plans for the replacement level crossing bridge at Ufton Nervet will finally be released to the public at an open meeting next week.

Network Rail is proposing to replace the level crossing at Ufton Nervet with a bridge to completely separate road and rail traffic at this site.

Campaigners have been calling for change at the junction for more than a decade, with several incidents of deliberate misuse at the crossing in recent years, the most disastrous of which saw 71 people injured and seven killed when a train collided with a car parked on the rail line in 2004.

The public meeting will take place between 3pm and 8pm on Tuesday (April 21) at Sulhamstead village hall, at which Network Rail staff will be on hand to explain the plans and answer questions.

Scheme sponsor for the Network Rail’s project, Daniel Collins, said: "Since we announced our proposal to build a replacement bridge at Ufton Nervet, we have been working closely with West Berkshire Council to develop our plans.

"We are now in the process of finalising our proposal and are therefore in a position to share it with the public, which is why we are holding this drop-in event.

"All are welcome and I’d urge anyone who wants to know more about our plans, or has a question they’d like answered, to come along."