Bridgnorth Cliff Railway to close for five days for twice-delayed maintenance works - here's when
Bridgnorth Cliff Railway is to close for five days to allow concreting works to take place.
The works had been scheduled for earlier this year but had to be postponed due to the wet weather, which posed a health and safety risk. They will now begin on Monday, March 2 and are scheduled to last for five days.
A break in the rain forecast for next week has now enabled managers at the Bridgnorth funicular railway to agree a new date with contractors for the concreting of the bottom 14 feet of the tracks.
Bridgnorth Cliff Railway chairman Dr Malvern Tipping said: "This will be our third attempt to complete the works. When we had better weather in November, the sub-contractors failed to show.
"Our main contractors then appointed a new team. However, the dates set aside in early February had to be abandoned due to days of constant rain. The resultant wet on steep surfaces meant that a health and safety risk had been posed for the new sub-contractors. Cliff railway colleagues have been liaising with the lead contractors to get this right.
“I am told that the weather forecast for the week commencing Monday, March 2 is much more favourable. Therefore, we plan to use that slot to complete the works, which involve fresh concreting under the bottom 14 feet of the tracks where there are currently diverse materials, some of which have become friable.
“During the closure, carriages will be seen moving, because they will be used for the removal of spoil and the conveyance of materials.
“Engineering works at the cliff railway are an iterative process. We are continuing to invest in these improvements as a way of securing the cliff railway for the future to the benefit of passengers and the town alike.”