01.02.16
Farnworth Tunnel services to return to full speed this week
Follow-up work due to take place at Farnworth Tunnel this week will remove the final speed restriction in place, meaning trains will be able to run at full speed.
Full services resumed mid-December after engineers connected the new tracks, but there was an initial speed restriction on the new section of railway.
Over the past two weekends, Network Rail brought in specialist equipment to remove the temporary track layout that was installed to allow services to continue running during the upgrade work.
In the Dec/Jan issue of RTM, Nick Spall, route delivery director at Network Rail, discussed the works to connect the new tracks through Farnworth Tunnel, and the lessons learned from the project.
Today, Spall reiterated his view that the major project to enlarge the tunnel has been an “extremely complex engineering scheme”.
“The new, bigger tunnel complete with new track marks the next step in our plans to electrify the line which will mean faster and more reliable trains for passengers,” he said, a point which Northern Rail’s boss Alex Hynes echoed today.
Work to upgrade the Victorian-built structure to accommodate two electrified lines started in May with an initial 5 October deadline, but suffered a series of delays due to “exceptionally poor ground conditions” and “large swathes of sand”.