Work on Kilsby Tunnel

[xydancer]

Historic Northamptonshire railway tunnel getting a new lease of life ready for trains to get back to normal
Engineers shore up leaky brickwork and drains in 180-year-old Kilsby Tunnel

Work has started to give a 180-year-old railway tunnel in Northamptonshire a new lease of life to make it ready for resumption of a full train service once the Covid-19 crisis eases.

Historic Kilsby Tunnel, near Daventry, has been a hotspot for delays as its Victorian brickwork leaks water during bad weather.

But Network Rail's engineers are using the lull in regular services and May's two Bank Holiday weekends to start work early on replacing track and improving drainage in the 1½-mile long tunnel, which is usually used by around 400 trains each day between London and Birmingham.

Route director James Dean said: “The West Coast main line is the backbone of Britain and keeping it maintained and running safely is a top priority.

"With fewer trains running because of the country’s continued effort to stop the spread of coronavirus, we have been able to prioritise and bring forward this critical work on this economically important section of railway.

“This can only be done by our dedicated railway engineers, signallers, maintenance, control room and operations staff bravely working to keep people who do need to travel by rail, and critical freight goods, moving throughout the crisis.

"In carrying out this work they are making sure the railway is at its best when Britain emerges from this coronavirus pandemic.”

Temporary speed limits imposed because of poor track quality will be lifted following the work, ending delays experienced by thousands of passengers on the route in recent years.

Kilsby Tunnel was believed to be the world's longest railway tunnel when it opened in 1838, taking three years to finish using an estimated 30million bricks. The two tunnel entrances were made listed buildings by in 1987 marking their special architectural and historic interest.

The current work requires the direct route from Milton Keynes to Rugby to be closed until May 16 with trains diverted via Northampton. Engineers are carrying out more than 150 maintenance projects while the section of track is shut.

Passenger numbers plummeted by 85 per cent after Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered the country to stay at home on March 23 in a bid to slow the spread of Covid-19. But train operators including London Northwestern Railway, which runs services through Northamptonshire, pledged to keep an emergency service running to ensure essential staff could get to work.

The Northampton Chronicle & Echo website reports on work being done on Kilsby Tunnel. The article also includes photos from inside the tunnel, which I can't get to reproduce properly here.

 

[DVD]

I have an ancestor, Samuel Leatherland, who lived in Kilsby and worked there as a brick maker in the 1830s and 1840s. So he almost certainly made bricks for the tunnel. I have walked across the old bridleway between the villages of Kilsby and Crick which is on a hill crossing the tunnel formation. Near the top you pass one of the huge ventilation shafts for the tunnel.

(In the 1841 census, Samuel was not in Kilsby but was temporarily based in Balcombe, Sussex. The census shows that the town was packed full of brick makers, bricklayers and clay labourers. They were almost certainly constructing the Balcombe viaduct on the London to Brighton line).

 

[xydancer]

The Northampton Chronicle & Echo reports that work has been completed inside Kilsby Tunnel (albeit a week after it did actually finish).

The report incudes several photos of the work, one in particular giving an idea how wet it is in there.

23,780 man hours later .. historic Northamptonshire railway tunnel's makeover is finished
Engineers shore up leaky brickwork and drains ready for 400 trains-a-day to use 183-year-old Kilsby Tunnel
Kevin Nicholls
Monday, 25th May 2020, 6:00 am

Engineers spent a combined 23,870 giving a historic Northamptonshire railway tunnel a long-overdue makeover.

Kilsby Tunnel, between Crick and Kilsby, was starting to show its age 183 years after Victorians dug through 1½ miles of high ground between Rugby and Northampton to build it in 1837.

Leaks caused flooding, speed restrictions and delays to the 400 passenger and freight trains using one of Europe's busiest mixed-use railway lines in Europe every day.

But two weeks of intensive labour by Network Rail meant refurbishment work was finished bang on time on Monday (May 18) and 110mph express services are charging through on the West Coast Mainline once again.

It also gave photographers the chance to produce some stunning photos of a few of the 30million bricks and views INSIDE the tunnel which are usually just a black blur for passengers.

The 14-day blockade while work was carried out is thought to be longest period the tunnel has been closed since trains started running through and was only possible because of the cutbacks in services during the Covid-19 crisis.

Gus Dunster, executive director of operations at Avanti West Coast — whose passenger trains use the tunnel — said: “The railway between Rugby and Milton Keynes is notoriously difficult to maintain due to the number of trains that use it every day.

“This scale of work would usually take months of careful planning but working together with industry colleagues we were able to do this in a matter of days because of our reduced timetable.

“It’s a great achievement in unprecedented circumstances and we would like to say thanks for the patience of everyone who has travelled with us over the last two weeks. The works will deliver a long-term benefit – improving reliability for millions of customers across the West Coast Main Line when we look forward to welcoming them back in the future.”

Engineers replaced nearly a mile of track and laid 2,458 new concrete sleepers to finish the project.

Avanti West Coast reckon that removing the speed restrictions with save their services a total of 82 minutes in delays every day. [QUOTE/]

 

[Scotrail88]

Was there a speed restriction that has now been lifted to 110 as stated?
If there was, does anyone know what it was.

 

[The Planner]

Was there a speed restriction that has now been lifted to 110 as stated?
If there was, does anyone know what it was.

90 I think.

 

[Bald Rick]

It was 60 to start with, lifted to 90 last Monday morning.

 

[Scotrail88]

It was 60 to start with, lifted to 90 last Monday morning.

Strange they quote 110mph when only increased to 90

 

[uvarvu]

110 now, there is a sign at one of the portals stating as such.

 

[Bald Rick]

Strange they quote 110mph when only increased to 90

Sorry, I meant initially. As others have said it’s been lifted to linespeed now.