Rother Valley trackbed secured under TWAO powers

THE entire route of the Rother Valley Railway (RVR) from the Kent & East Sussex Railway boundary to Station Road, Robertsbridge is now under the railway’s control.

Before Christmas, RVR exercised its TWAO (Transport & Works Act Order) powers and took possession of the trackbed between Austens Bridge and Northbridge

Street – part of the ‘missing link’ central section of the line.

Much of the route has now been marked out by surveyors and engagement with the landowners is ongoing.

As previously reported, the current focus is to continue to meet the compliance and statutory obligations with the required surveys and reporting – including those relating to flaura and fauna.

One of the surveys – ground sampling using bore holes – has now been completed and the report is with the railway.

Mike Hart, RVR Ltd chairman and the project construction director, has assembled a team of highly qualified volunteer professionals to design and build the railway. Many members of them have already been involved in getting the RVR to this stage – which has included creating a connection to the network main line, a platform and toilet block and a mile-and-a-half of track ready for trains.

Team philosophy

“Our construction philosophy is that civil engineering contractors will build much of the structures – buildings, embankments, bridges etc – but volunteers will lay all the track. There is still about two and a half miles to lay,” explained Mr Hart.

“To make all that happen we’ve got a number of professional consultants on board, but we also have a wonderful team of civil engineers with many years of experience.

“We have a bridge engineer, a railway track engineer and various others all working on the project as volunteers designing things, organising things – and they will oversee all the work done by our contractors. It’s not me – it’s the team that’s going to make this happen!”