Oxford station upgrade: 24-hour shifts needed to remove brick arch

The £161m station and railway upgrade was paused when contractors unearthed an inverted brick arch under the road

Works to upgrade a city station will take place round-the-clock to make up time after the discovery of a Victorian-era arch under the road.

Botley Road in Oxford has been closed since April for the railway station upgrade.

Working shifts on the project have been extended to safely remove an inverted brick arch found below the road.

Network Rail wrote to residents about the changes, acknowledging that noise would be "unavoidable".

Project manager Phil Morton said that they would be "working day and night" to "gain back some of the time lost".

Network Rail said the nosiest work would be carried out during the day to reduce disturbance to those in the area

Since 14 August, the project's working hours have been 07:00 to 19:00 BST, seven days a week, and from 2 September it will move to 24 hours a day.

The changes have been approved by Oxford City Council, under section 61 of the Control of Pollution Act, 1974, which allows for greater flexibility with timings.

'Ghastly'

It is part of a newly-agreed engineering solution to safely remove the brick arch, while managing groundwater and the stability of the bridge, Network Rail said.

The company sent letters to residents, saying those were "short-term measures" to "make up time".

The Victorian brick archway reaches a metre deep, stretching the full length between Mill Street and Frideswide Square

Catherine, 72, who lives on Mill Street, said she was concerned about "the dust and the noise", which she found "ghastly".

Another resident said he would not be very affected but he "feels sorry" for people who live closer to the site.

"I can imagine this isn't what you sign up for when you pick the house," he added.

Locals will be able to learn more from members of the project team at a drop-in event at West Oxford Community Centre on 23 August.

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