Farewell to 1938 stock
Island Line bids farewell to 1938 ex-LU stock… and closes for conversion ahead of welcoming new Class 484s.
A 70-metre section of brick wall collapsed on the Nine Elms Viaduct in south London on Christmas Day, closing one of the eight lines into Waterloo station until at least the middle of February.
The incident occurred during engineering work that was taking place over the holiday period.
Network Rail said the cause of the collapse has yet to be determined, but the wall was not struck by machinery. Work in the area was taking place using a digger to remove old rails and sleepers, as part of a project to renew switches and crossings.
NR’s Wessex Route Director Mark Killick said: “The original collapse was quite small. The wall was connected with a substantial handrail, which was bolted through the bricks. When the small section failed, the handrail pulled a much longer length down.”
Without the wall in place, NR could not reinstate a small section of track. This meant South Western Railway had to run an amended service from January 4. Services on the Hounslow Loop were cut to one an hour, with peak services reduced on the Reading line, from Shepperton via Twickenham, and from Farnham.
The work at Nine Elms forms part of a wider project to improve performance at Waterloo, where Platforms 12-20 were closed.
A NR spokesman said: “Repairs are ongoing to the parapet wall on Ponton Road in Battersea. We are aiming to have all works, including reinstating the out-ofservice Windsor Reversible line, by February 22. Teams will then continue as part of the planned work between Nine Elms, Vauxhall and Waterloo until the end of March.”