A moment in history
HUNDREDS of rail enthusiasts watched on as a 1000 tonne crane installed the new steel bridge deck that will link two stretches of the historic Great Central Railway in Loughborough.
On Saturday, September 2, the first part of the £2.5m rail bridge was laid as the bridge deck was installed across two concrete abutments.
The new bridge will one day carry Great Central Railway heritage trains over the tracks of the Midland Main Line below.
After the closure of the original Great Central line by British Rail in 1969, a section of the route survived in the East Midlands.
However, when two bridges and an embankment were removed it was physically divided in two.
Both separate lines have been preserved by enthusiasts for herit- age trains who have now committed to link up but 500 metres of track between them needs to be rebuilt.
The new bridge is the first key piece of infrastructure to be reinstated.
When the whole project is completed it will create an 18 mile heritage railway stretching across the East Midlands.
The operation to lower the bridge deck into place started after possession of the Midland Main Line was granted by Network Rail.
At approximately 11pm on Saturday, September 2, work began and continued through the night until it was completed in the early hours of Sunday, September 3, and trains started operating again on the Midland Mainline.
At a cost of £2.5m, this element of the ‘Bridging the Gap’ project is the most complex and has taken a number of years to complete, with funding provided through a combination of donations from GCR and Great Central Railway Nottingham (GCRN) supporters, a £1m grant from the Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership (LLEP) and £250,000 worth of shares purchased by Leicestershire County Council.
Great Central Railway’s CEO, Richard Patching said: “This is an exciting night for the Great Central Railway. For over 40 years, our supporters and friends have dreamt of work starting on the reunification of the line. We hope to continue raising funds to complete the project and finally join the two railways. We would like to thank our many supporters who have enabled us to get to this stage.”
Phil Stanway, director of GCRN added: “As this first phase of the reunification project reaches an exciting climax, what was once deemed nothing more than a dream moves one step closer.
“The bridge installation is testimony to all who have contributed so far.”