Great Glen: Railway bridge work to begin after safety row

Works will see the bridge rebuilt and raised by about half-a-metre

Major works to a railway bridge will begin after being delayed by the county council over safety concerns.

The demolition and reconstruction of the Station Road bridge in Great Glen was scheduled to start in January,

But it was delayed because the project did not meet Leicestershire County Council's "minimum" safety standards.

Network Rail will now begin the Midland Main Line work after an agreement was reached, reports the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

The multimillion-pound electrification programme will see the bridge rebuilt and raised by about half-a-metre to clear the way for new electric wires.

Council chiefs said they fully supported the modernisation of the railway lines but not at the expense of safety.

Network Rail said it would "never compromise safety".

'Minimising disruption'

Councillor Ozzy O'Shea, cabinet member for highways and transport said the railway body had been "reluctant to comply with well-established procedures that developers normally follow".

He told the LDRS following a council meeting last week: "Our priority as the highways authority is to ensure that road users are safe on our network as well as minimising disruption from roadworks.

"Regrettably, we've had to inform Network Rail that we cannot agree to the start of work on demolishing a bridge at Great Glen as their current proposals for new infrastructure on the highway don't even meet our minimum requirements for standards of safety."

The council would not tell the LDRS exactly what its safety concerns were.

The project will see the line between Market Harborough and Wigston upgraded

However, this week Mr O'Shea said talks had since made "significant progress" and the next phase of the works could now begin.

As part of the works, about 50 metres of road either side of the bridge will also need to be reconstructed.

Drivers along the Station Road route have been facing disruption since it closed between Newton Lane and Kibworth Road in January and is due to stay shut until the summer.

Gavin Crook, principal sponsor for Network Rail, said: "We fully recognise the need to work with local communities while we are working within them to take local needs into consideration and, of course, make sure that we never compromise safety - either on the railway or in the communities through which the railway passes."