Wellingborough bridge to shut today for six months

The Finedon Road railway bridge is being demolished and reconstructed as part of an upgrade to the Midland Main Line.

Pedestrian access will be maintained throughout the work but vehicles will not be able to cross the bridge until Friday, September 28.

The work will see an additional line constructed between Bedford and Kettering as well as the electrification of the line to Corby in the biggest upgrade to the route since the Victorian era.

Rob McIntosh, route managing director at Network Rail, said: “We know that this work may cause some disruption to those living in the area and we are sorry for this.

“We are doing a huge amount of work to railway infrastructure on this stretch of the Midland Main Line to allow overhead wires to be installed.

“We’re investing more than £1bn in this project which will help to deliver the railway of the future, one which meets the needs of the communities and economies which our railway serves.”

As part of the project the Station Road bridge between Irchester and Rushden will also close, as we reported here.

During the road closures, clearly signposted diversion routes will be in place.

Three further significant structures being upgraded are Wellingborough and Irchester viaducts, which have no impact on vehicle or pedestrian traffic, as well as Bush Bridge, which carries a bridleway over the railway.

Bush Bridge will be closed from Monday, March 26, until Monday, June 18.

The majority of this significant work will have no impact on passenger services, although there will be some changes to East Midlands Trains services over the weekends of April 28 and 29 and June 2 and 3.

On these weekends, a reduced service will be in place with replacement bus services between Leicester and Bedford/Luton.

Any passengers travelling over these weekends are advised to check before they travel via National Rail Enquiries.

Jake Kelly, managing director for East Midlands Trains, said: “The Midland Main Line Upgrade will deliver major benefits for customers as part of the railway’s long term plan for change.

“Whilst there will be some short term pain with changes to our services over the weekends of 28/29 April and 2/3 June, this will help to deliver long term improvements for customers travelling on the Midland Main Line to London.”