NR targets September for Werington part-closure

NETWORK Rail has provisionally set a nine-day period in September to close a key section of the

East Coast Main Line north of Peterborough.

Although subject to agreement with operators, NR intends to take the nine-day possession of the main running lines at Werrington from September 5-13, in order to complete the most critical works on a new grade-separated junction.

The £200 million project will directly link the Stamford lines and the Great Northern-Great Eastern lines at Werrington Junction, via a new 600-metre dive-under.

It will enable slow-moving freight trains to travel on a dedicated route beneath the ECML, eliminating the current need for them to traverse the three running lines of the ECML on the level.

The work forms a key part of the East Coast Upgrade, which (alongside track improvements at King’s Cross, power supply upgrades and the installation of a turnback platform at Stevenage) is designed to increase the number of long-distance high-speed trains paths between London and Doncaster from six to eight from December 2021.

In order to accommodate the dive-under, work has already been completed over the past 18 months by NR and principal contractor Morgan Sindall to widen the formation at Werrington and to slew the Stamford lines by approximately 25 metres to the west - where they now sit on top of a newly culverted Brook Drain watercourse.

Meanwhile, on the northern part of the site, an approach cutting has been dug where an 11,000-tonne 160-metre curved box structure is now being cast until July, to sit beneath the trackbed of the ECML itself.

From this cutting, a tunnel boring machine will shortly be launched to create the guide tunnels that will be used to slide this curved box into position in September.

The pushing of the box into position is expected to occupy six of the nine days needed in September. The remainder of the time will be needed to remove and then reinstate track and overhead line and signalling equipment from a 200-metre stretch of the ECML above.

During the closure there will be a

reduced long-distance service from London King’s Cross, with some trains probably being diverted onto the Stamford lines and the GN-GE lines to get around the works at Werrington.

Network Rail also intends to take a small number of weekday and weekend possessions on

June 20-21, September 5-6 and between December 19-March 2021, to coincide with when there will be limited or no service into London King’s Cross, in conjunction with the extensive trackwork taking place at the terminus.

NR Sponsor Alan Desport said: “This junction represents a major bottleneck and putting in the diveunder will have a significant impact in removing that. This [September] is one of the critical elements of the project to create the diveunder, and will be challenging for us.

“We are currently investigating routes to mitigate the impact of the nine-day closure such as using the option of the Stamford lines, which we will need to make bi-directional.” @paul_rail

■ See RAIL 902 for more on the project.

PAUL STEPHEN. Looking south towards what will become the northern portal of the dive-under. More than 900 8-10-metre soil nails have been installed in the approach cutting to secure its steep concrete-sprayed sides.

PAUL STEPHEN. The 11,000-tonne, 160-metre box structure for Werrington dive-under is being cast on site, before being slid into position beneath the East Coast Main Line during a nine-day period in September. On March 12, the first 16-metre section of the box takes shape in the northern approach cutting.