Colas Rail has issued an update on the track renovation it has been carrying out in the Severn Tunnel.

Working as part of the South Rail Systems Alliance (SRSA), engineers carried out work in June which required the tunnel to close for eleven days.

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Colas’s Bristol division has now returned to replace the other side of the track.

The project involves renewing 3.2km (nearly two miles) of track, installing 5,200 new sleepers and replacing over thirteen thousand tonnes of ballast.

Engineers had to deal with space and access constraints in the tunnel, which was built under the Severn estuary in the late nineteenth century. Moreover, the saltwater conditions of the tunnel mean that track infrastructure deteriorates faster than on land environments. Colas explains that track that would usually last for twenty-five years has to be replaced after just ten.

Materials removed during the work are being recycled and repurposed, including putting removed sleepers and rail to use at a local sidings.

AP Webb and McCulloch Group’s On Track Plant assisted with delivering the work alongside a Colas tamper.