Just in time for the Easter weekend, Phase 1 of repairs to Stanway Viaduct on the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway (GWSR) have been completed and trains will resume running through to Broadway from tomorrow, Good Friday, 29 March.

Work to repair the viaduct included re-waterproofing the surface and stabilising the parapets of the 200m-long viaduct under which a mortar joint had unexpectedly been found to have failed.

The track has been relaid and the viaduct has been handed back to the railway, ready for services to once more travel the length of the line to Broadway station from Good Friday, 29th March.

The line between Toddington and Broadway has been severed at the viaduct since the beginning of November, when the track needed to be lifted to gain access to the viaduct’s deck.

The first public departure from train Toddington to Broadway, and the first public train to cross the viaduct following repairs, will depart Toddington at 09.40 and return with the 10.15 service from Broadway to Cheltenham Racecourse.

Work to repair the viaduct would not have been possible without vital support from the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway Trust.

It launched an appeal last year to raise money to fund the first phase of the repairs, which have now been completed costing around £600,000.

Viaduct Appeal

The viaduct appeal is still open, and anyone wishing to donate can do so at www.gwrt.org.uk/donate/stanway-viaduct-appeal

This first phase of the project was undertaken by Walsh Construction and their sub-contractor Lampitt Rail Services with consulting engineers David Symonds Associates. It was completed within budget and within the expected time frame – we were fortunate that generally favourable weather has been on our side, allowing the work to press ahead with little interruption. I am particularly pleased that all the works were completed safely over the 5-month contract.

The chosen solution to stabilise the parapets, using stainless steel ties between 240 stainless steel plates on the parapets anchored to the new concrete deck, was completed far more quickly than we expected.

I’m absolutely delighted that the viaduct has been handed back to the railway so soon and I for one, look forward to travelling over it once again.

Many of us have breathed a huge sigh of relief after the intensive work on the viaduct, to say nothing of the stressful and unpleasant surprise that the parapets were showing alarming signs of failure.

We will now allow the viaduct to dry out before starting work on Phase 2 which is planned to start in 2025, subject to funding. This will encompass repair of the structure’s brickwork that has been damaged by water seepage over many decades.

In all, complete repair of the viaduct will cost up to £1.8 million, so the appeal remains open, Dr Plant pointed out. We expect the painstaking task to repair the brickwork to take up to three years to finish.

Dr Graham Plant, Civil Engineering Director, Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway