Rail Services To Be Restored After Tunnel Declared Safe

PASSENGERS who use Chiltern Railways received welcome news today as the remaining Tesco tunnel structure at Gerrards Cross was declared safe and a firm date was set for normal services to resume.

The Gerrards Cross route will re-open on Saturday 20 August, and a complete service for commuters will resume from Monday 22 August. Engineers are working around the clock in the tunnel, rebuilding the track and signalling that was damaged by the collapse.

Since the tunnel collapsed on 30 June, Tesco and its contractors have removed over 25,000 tonnes of earth and some 60m of tunnel structure. Independent engineering experts have thoroughly reviewed the tunnel design, the building methodology and the earth used as infill, which all form part of the overall tunnel design and agree with Tesco and its consultants that the structure is safe for the passage of trains.

Chiltern Rail have said: “The underlying cause of the accident is still subject to a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation, but initial views are that the loading sequence used in the construction of the tunnel was the major factor that caused the collapse.”
(Ed. i.e. rumour has it that earth was piled on TOP of the arch of the tunnel, before it had been piled up on either side first!)

John Armitt, Network Rail?s Chief Executive, said: ?Now we are satisfied that the tunnel is safe; our engineers have moved in and will be working night and day, rebuilding the track and signalling damaged in the tunnel collapse, to get trains moving once again. I appreciate the last seven weeks have been extremely frustrating for passengers, however we could not contemplate re-opening the line unless were satisfied that the Tesco Tunnel was completely safe.?

Cath Proctor, Managing Director for Chiltern Railways, said: ?We are very pleased to be able to restore our full timetable, including two trains an hour between London and Birmingham. Re-opening the line at Gerrards Cross is what passengers have been waiting for and we are relieved that, after seven weeks, Network Rail, HMRI and Tesco are fully confident that the line is safe to enable us to run trains through the area. We thank all our passengers for their patience throughout this difficult time and look forward to providing our usual frequent, reliable and efficient service. The tunnel collapse on 30 June has caused major disruption to some of our passengers, but we have tried, in very difficult circumstances, to run the very best possible service.?

The Rail company say: “The future of the tunnel and the Tesco superstore is a matter for Tesco. Much more evaluation work is needed before any potential future work will be allowed on the remaining tunnel.”

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