Hitchin Rail Improvement as Main Span Positioned in New Rail Flyover

A Hertfordshire rail bottleneck is now well on the way to being removed, thanks to the Coalition Governments infrastructure investment programme. Currently trains for Cambridge and Ely have to cross the East Coast Main Line on the same level just after Hitchin station. This blocks both fast tracks temporarily every time a train turns off to Cambridge, with speed restrictions over the crossing and obvious timetabling problems.

A new length of track is being built that will enable the Cambridge trains to gain height and cross the mainline by way of a flyover bridge without disrupting other rail traffic. On a quiet Sunday morning at the beginning of last month the 30 tonne main span of the new bridge was lifted into place using a 120 tonne crane.

It took just an hour and a half to position the span and bolt it into place. Network Rail's route managing director Phil Verster said: "The Hitchin flyover will make a real difference to passengers who travel on the East Coast Main Line, as well as people traveling to Cambridge and beyond. Trains will run more reliably and punctually, and we will have cleared one of the major bottlenecks on the route."

Network Rail has said the new rail link will cut delays to train services by nearly 30,000 minutes every year and create the additional capacity to run more services. The new stretch of line, which is expected to cost £47 million in total, should be open by early 2014.
Original Story from Rail.co Picture from Network Rail