Freight train damage ‘costing us millions’

[wiltshirebloke]

A bit of an 'interesting' article in the local newspaper .... (Wiltshire Times)

MILLIONS of pounds worth of damage to buildings in Trowbridge and Bradford on Avon are being caused by freight trains, a local architect has claimed.

Martin Valatin, of St Margaret’s Hill, Bradford on Avon, believes that the vibrations caused by heavy freight trains have damaged the roof of County Hall, which had to be repaired in 2003 and then again in 2014/15, at a cost of more than £800,000.

Mr Valatin also believes that cracks visible in Holy Trinity Church in Bradford on Avon have been caused by the vibrations.

He argues that in order to reduce the damage, which he thinks is a problem across the country, the rail industry needs to slow the heavy freight trains down.

“Taxpayers’ money has been spent on repairs, when it could be put to better use and stop all the cuts that have been going on in Wiltshire. I suspect this is doing millions of pounds worth of damage to buildings,” he said.

“When I was teaching at the architectural department at Bath University in the 1990s, I got some engineering lecturers and students to look around around Bradford on Avon where these cracks had formed. They explained that vibrations from heavy freight trains could cause the damage, as the cracks are coming in the direction of the railway. They were in agreement that this was also the case at County Hall.

Although the County Hall is located adjacent to the railway line, the church is some way away.

 

[duesselmartin]

I wonder how much tax payers money is spend on damage caused by lorry drivers?
Interesting, Cologne Cathedral (Germany) stands right beside the central railway station and at an sub-way intersection, yet it is still standing

 

[YorkshireBear]

And how much taxpayers money would be spent building extra capacity to allow the passenger timetables to keep to current standards if freight is slowed down?

 

[JohnR]

I wonder why it didnt happen during all the years freight trains were passing through this station...

 

[GRALISTAIR]

I wonder how much tax payers money is spend on damage caused by lorry drivers?
Interesting, Cologne Cathedral (Germany) stands right beside the central railway station and at an sub-way intersection, yet it is still standing

Exactly - it beggars belief

 

[SpacePhoenix]

Would they prefer a few hundred lorries passing through their town instead, along with all the extra pollution that would bring?

 

[edwin_m]

Would they prefer a few hundred lorries passing through their town instead, along with all the extra pollution that would bring?

No. They have a lorry ban on the Town Bridge in Bradford on Avon, and the locals are very good at reporting any large vehicle seen in the town centre.

Holy Trinity is around 250 metres from the railway with a river in between.

 

[8A Rail]

So said person is talking through his backside - no surprise there!

 

[70014IronDuke]

“When I was teaching at the architectural department at Bath University in the 1990s, I got some engineering lecturers and students to look around around Bradford on Avon where these cracks had formed. They explained that vibrations from heavy freight trains could cause the damage, as the cracks are coming in the direction of the railway. They were in agreement that this was also the case at County Hall.

Very scientific reporting. The Wiltshire Times is clearly a cut above the Daily Mail.

 

[NSEFAN]

“When I was teaching at the architectural department at Bath University in the 1990s, I got some engineering lecturers and students to look around around Bradford on Avon where these cracks had formed. They explained that vibrations from heavy freight trains could cause the damage, as the cracks are coming in the direction of the railway. They were in agreement that this was also the case at County Hall.

Very scientific reporting. The Wiltshire Times is clearly a cut above the Daily Mail.

Indeed. Some actual measurements of the vibration would be better, particularly if someone is looking to claim hundreds of thousands of pounds...

 

[takno]

Worth pointing out that the council are quoted in the article as saying that the second set of repairs on county hall were due to the original repairs having been completely botched, and strongly denying that they were anything to do with trains

 

[aylesbury]

Usual claptrap from someone wanting to see his name in print note also his views on all the other cuts in Wiltshire .Take this with a large slurp of salt.

 

[Harbornite]

Would they prefer a few hundred lorries passing through their town instead, along with all the extra pollution that would bring?

Not to mention the risk of collisions (both to buildings and pedestrians/cyclists and other motorists).

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Are there speed humps in the roads near the affected buildings? Speed humps have been shown to cause damage through percussive vibrations - and there's a lot more cars a lot closer to the buildings than freight trains...

 

[70014IronDuke]

Worth pointing out that the council are quoted in the article as saying that the second set of repairs on county hall were due to the original repairs having been completely botched, and strongly denying that they were anything to do with trains

Which means, to all intents and purposes, that this is a total non-story and makes the editor of the paper look an idiot for allowing a loud-mouthed clown free column-inches.

EDIT: no offence meant to any professional and hard-working clowns reading this. Term used in the colloquial sense only.

 

[3141]

Another thing the architect doesn't understand is that, even if the second set of repairs to County Hall roof had been the result of vibrations from freight trains, and the £800,00 spent on repairs in 2014/15 could have been avoided if freight trains travelled more slowly, that would have made very little difference to cuts in Wiltshire. When a local authority has to make cuts because its government grants have been reduced, it has to make a permanent reduction in expenditure. So it might have had an extra £800,000 available in 2014/15, but it wouldn't be spending that amount on County Hall roof every year, and would still have to reduce its expenditure to the same extent.

 

[158747]

Sounds like a load of nonsense to me. If the vibration of freight trains is causing damage to Holy Trinity church which is about 250 metres from the line, surely the station buildings would have fallen down years ago!