[22
SEP 00] RUGBY
BOROUGH COUNCIL NEWS
Residents On Track For Late Night Noise
Dozens of residents
north of Rugby are going to be told that there will be noisy workings
on the railway throughout the night near their homes.
As part of the
upgrade to the West Coast Mail Line, offering faster rail services to
Coventry, Rugby and Nuneaton, work will have to be carried out between
11pm and 7am.
Railtrack has to
inform 130 households in Newbold, another 30 in Easenhall, and 20
rural properties in-between about the work that will be carried out
when rail lines are less busy.
The work will also
affect public rights of way and footpaths close to the line, seeing
closures of up to five months at some locations. In Coventry, there
was uproar over plans to permanently close level crossings at Canley
Tile Hill and Berkswell stations.
Railtrack want to
change some of the bridges over the rail line, which are of the
Stephenson design and that style should be respected, as Rugby Borough
Council.
It considers some of
the proposed bridge rebuilding to be ‘unacceptable’ and wants the
designers to look at the plans again.
Some trees are also
to be removed and the council wants to be know what is going to be
removed and why.
The council also
predicts a ‘significant’ increase in heavy traffic on the B4112,
Little Lawford Lane, Lea Crescent and Cathiron Lane.
Ian Davis, head of
technical services at Rugby Borough Council, said:
“Railtrack has
entered into commitments to enhance the speed, frequency,
reliability and safety of services using the West Coast Main Line.
These objectives
cannot be achieved without upgrading the route, notably in terms of
train speed, capacity, signalling, traction power supply and
maintenance regime,
“The improvements
will provide for faster and more frequent services and a fleet of 53
high speed active trains to achieve improved journey times.”
Railtrack needs
permission form John Prescott, as environment secretary, for the work
to upgrade part of the Rugby to Nuneaton Trent Valley line, on the
Newbold to Brinklow section.
A public inquiry will
be held in January 2001 to look at objections to the upgrade scheme
which will see massive work for new drains and culverts, installing
plant and signalling equipment, plus changes to embankments, bridges,
access roads and paths.
The council already
has given ‘full support’ to the project to make the whole section
between Rugby and Nuneaton a four-track railway, but is taking issue
with some of the details.
With cutbacks over
recent years, part of the stretch is down to two or three tracks in
places, and this work will restore four tracks and allow faster trains
to use the line.
Railtrack will need
access to the line from the Parkfield Road area, which could affect
construction of the much-heralded Rugby Western Relief Road.
Completion of the
upgrade of the west coast main line will see 125mph trains running in
2002, cutting the journey time from Rugby to London from about 60
minutes to 45 minutes.
Coventry commuters
will see their train journey trimmed from 75 to 60 minutes and the
number of trains doubled to four per hour.
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