Milestone for the Okehampton route
THE REOPENING of the railway line between Okehampton and Exeter came closer when Network Rail finished relaying the new track and sleepers on May 14. Following the confirmation of government funding in March, engineers started immediately and have worked tirelessly to upgrade this 14-mile stretch of track between Okehampton and Coleford Junction, where the Dartmoor Line joins the existing railway line to Exeter.
As well as laying new track and sleepers, Network Rail engineers have been working day and night on drainage, fencing, preparing the ground for the new railway and much more. More than 11 miles of new track has successfully been laid and 24,000 concrete sleepers have been installed using an innovative NTC (new track construction) machine, which is able to simultaneously drop sleepers evenly into position, lay the track on top and then clamp the track into place. The concrete sleepers, which were stored at the work site adjacent to Okehampton station, have been transported along the Dartmoor Line using a Colas Class 56 loco that pushed a quarter-mile long set of wagons containing on average of 2,430 sleepers per journey at a speed of 5mph.
The 29,000 tonnes of ballast have also nearly all been dropped and this will be followed by tamping. To enable engineers to work throughout the night, more than four miles of lights have been erected. These lights have been powered by silent generators to ensure residents living near to the Dartmoor Line are disrupted as little as possible.
Now that the main elements of the track relay work have been completed, Network Rail will be turning its focus to other aspects of the project, including upgrading several level crossings, installing new GSM-R masts, undertaking bridge repairs and running engineering test trains to check the quality of the newly laid track.
Rail Minister Chris Heaton-Harris said: “It’s brilliant that so much progress has been made already on this project. Network Rail engineers have done an incredible job installing 11 miles of new track and 24,000 sleepers, bringing us closer to seeing regular passenger services restored later this year.”