15.04.14
New Rochester underpass ‘air-jacked’ into position
Network Rail is to ‘air-jack’ the new Rochester station underpass into position over Easter, as part of the £147m scheme to improve the railway through the Medway towns in Kent.
Engineers will put the underpass – which will provide a public link between Corporation Street, Rochester and the river Medway, as well as access to the new station's platforms – on air-jacks and slide it 40 metres into its final position.
A hole will also be cut into the railway embankment for the pre-constructed underpass to be slotted into place. As a result no trains will run through the Medway towns over Easter, with a full bus service being provided between Meopham and Gillingham.
Nicky Hughes, Network Rail’s head of communications for London and the South East, said: “The work we are doing at Rochester will result in a fantastic new station and a more reliable railway – however we also realise that the disruption will not be welcome for passengers travelling over Easter.
“We have to do the work when the railway is less busy, and Easter gives us four full days and nights where we can undertake big engineering projects while affecting the least passengers.”
The work is being carried out as part of Network Rail’s £2.3bn investment to better connect the rail network of Kent and Sussex with London between 2014-19.
In Kent, specifically, £147m will be invested to replace signalling on the railway around the Medway towns and to fund the new Rochester station, allowing 12-car trains to call there for the first time, and a new platform at Rainham.
Other investment programmes in the next five years include a £10m linespeed improvement scheme to the Ramsgate to Ashford route, a new station for Kidbrooke in south east London, upgrades of the railway power supply to cope with extra and more powerful trains, along with the continuing programme to improve stations, including Maidstone East and Strood.
Michelle Ulyatt, customer relations manager at Southeastern, said: “The work taking place at Rochester this Easter is the latest in a programme of improvements that will bring long-term benefits to passengers in terms of better stations and more reliable infrastructure.”
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