Mid- Norfolk pioneers 21st century crossing technology for Dereham
THE Mid- Norfolk Railway's ( MNR) refurbishment of Dereham's Yaxham Road level crossing has been hailed as a first for the heritage sector.
The crossing has been completed using a system developed by Dutch railway infrastructure company Edilon Sedra and was installed by volunteers from the MNR, together with contractors from Sonic Rail Services, TXMPlant and a team of technicians from Keltbray. The signalling and crossing warning lights work was carried out by MNR volunteers to industry standard, and the trackwork replacement was carried out by Sonic Rail Services.
The finished crossing saw specially prefabricated concrete slabs installed, before new special hard- wearing high manganese content steel rails were fitted. The rails were then encased in a special resin developed by Edilon Sedra by the Keltbray technicians.
The technology has not previously been used at such a busy crossing point on the entire UK rail system. The finished crossing is expected to have a maintenance- free life of at least 50 years. The crossing rails were also laid onto a special bedding layer that acts as a noise dampener and so the crossing will also be quieter.
The new level crossing has sparked interest for Network Rail and Transport for London, who have both been trialling this system. Officials from the two organisations have visited the MNR site and it is expected that this type of crossing will be rolled out across the UK rail network in the future.
The line's general manager George Saville said: "We all recognise that this is a difficult year for everyone. However, at the MNR we knew we had to conduct this work as the old level crossing had reached the end of its life and therefore had to be replaced. As a result, the railway decided to invest in 21 st- century technology for our replacement crossing as it safeguards our long term future:'