Bridge replacement may be £100k over budget

A campaign to replace Broom Lane Bridge was launched in January

The cost to replace a bridge will be about £100,000 more than originally predicted, a heritage railway has announced.

The Spa Valley Railway, which runs between Tunbridge Wells in Kent and Eridge in East Sussex, had set a fundraising target of £300,000 to replace the steel Broom Lane Bridge near High Rocks due to corrosion.

But the estimated cost has been raised to £400,000 because of "engineering factors" that came up during the design phase, the railway said.

"We must do something before the corrosion reaches a point where we cannot operate trains," a spokesperson said.

The railway explained that while repairing the affected areas was possible, it would only temporarily extend the bridge's life and potentially cost the same, if not more, than constructing a new one.

A series of events have been been organised to help generate money for the works, including a five-mile sponsored walk, and as of August more than £63,000 had been raised to replace the bridge, which was built in the 1890s.

Jonnie Pay, Spa Valley Railway's general manager, previously said: "We know a bridge isn't glamorous, but without it, we might be unable to run trains over the entire length of our railway."

To ensure the railway can continue in the meantime, the bridge is regularly inspected, is subject to an enhanced monitoring regime and has a speed restriction in place, the railway's spokesperson said.