{"id":305620,"date":"2025-10-22T20:46:48","date_gmt":"2025-10-22T10:46:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/railuk.com\/?p=184295"},"modified":"2025-10-22T20:46:48","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T10:46:48","slug":"time-lapse-shows-huge-railway-bridge-under-construction-ahead-of-m6-renewal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=305620","title":{"rendered":"Time-lapse shows huge railway bridge under construction ahead of M6 renewal"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/railuk.com\/rail-news\/time-lapse-shows-huge-railway-bridge-under-construction-ahead-of-m6-renewal\/\" title=\"Time-lapse shows huge railway bridge under construction ahead of M6 renewal\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"485\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.railuk.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/22113843\/Old-bridge-from-new-Clifton-bridge-with-M6-and-Avanti-train-in-the-background-Network-Rail-485x360.jpg\" class=\"webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" style=\"display: block; margin-bottom: 5px; clear:both;max-width: 100%;\" link_thumbnail=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.railuk.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/22113843\/Old-bridge-from-new-Clifton-bridge-with-M6-and-Avanti-train-in-the-background-Network-Rail-485x360.jpg 485w, https:\/\/cdn.railuk.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/22113843\/Old-bridge-from-new-Clifton-bridge-with-M6-and-Avanti-train-in-the-background-Network-Rail-80x60.jpg 80w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 485px) 100vw, 485px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The massive steel structure of a new \u00a360 million railway bridge set to take passengers over one of Britain\u2019s busiest railways over the M6 has now been completed.<\/p>\n<p>Passengers travelling on the West Coast Main Line through Penrith are set to benefit from a brand-new bridge, ensuring trains can safely and reliably travel along the route.<\/p>\n<p> Network Rail has revealed time-lapse footage of the impressive new structure \u2013 which measures 130m in length and weighs in at around 4,200 tonnes \u2013 during its assembly by contractor partner Skanska in a specially built compound beside the busy motorway.<\/p>\n<p>Now that the steel structure is complete, works to finalise the bridge deck are set to be completed in November.<\/p>\n<p>The previous Clifton bridge is nearly 60-years-old and weight restrictions mean it can only carry one train at a time, causing delays to services.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s all in advance of the main phase of the project when the old structure will be removed and new one installed during a dual railway and motorway closures in the first two weeks of 2026.<\/p>\n<p>No trains will run on the\u200b West Coast Main Line from Oxenholme to Carlisle between 31 December and 15 January 2026.<\/p>\n<p>To make the most of the same closure, more than 80 kilometres of overhead cables which power trains will also be replaced, as well as an ongoing \u00a361 million digital upgrade to signalling systems north of Carlisle.<\/p>\n<p>Passengers are advised to plan their journeys in advance by visiting <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nationalrail.co.uk\/\">www.nationalrail.co.uk<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-wistia-inc wp-block-embed-wistia-inc\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" title=\"TIMELAPSE FOOTAGE West Coast Main Line M6 Clifton bridge under construction near Penrith Video\" src=\"https:\/\/fast.wistia.net\/embed\/iframe\/2yezm2ia29?dnt=1#?secret=eqhTlZHR1z\" data-secret=\"eqhTlZHR1z\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" width=\"696\" height=\"392\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>William Brandon, Network Rail\u2019s project manager, said: \u201cIt&#8217;s brilliant to see the new Clifton bridge structure now taking shape beside the M6 ready for its ambitious installation in the New Year as part of our major upgrades to keep passengers and freight moving on the West Coast Main Line for decades to come.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn January we will not only start the main phase to replace the bridge, but elsewhere in Cumbria we&#8217;ll also renew over 80 kilometres of overhead lines which power trains and continue with our major modernisation of West Coast Main Line signalling systems. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese essential upgrades will involve some closures of the road and the railway, so we&#8217;re advising people to plan journeys well in advance while we work with National Highways and our train operators to make people aware of the scale, impacts and future benefits of our multi-million-pound investment.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Rosario Barcena, Skanska\u2019s rail programme director, said: \u201cWe have made fantastic progress, with the new 4,200-tonne structure nearing completion. Demolition of the existing bridge and installation of the new one are both complex and time critical operations, to which we are bringing our expertise from previous similar projects for Network Rail and the latest digital technologies.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt has been a super collaborative project, where we have worked with Network Rail, National Highways, local authority and supply chain partners to ensure that we are fully prepared.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The M6 will also be shut on two consecutive weekends for the old bridge to be removed and new one moved into position, between:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Evening of Friday 2 January to morning of Monday 5 January 2026<\/li>\n<li>Evening of Friday 9 January to morning of Monday 12 January 2026<\/li>\n<li>During these periods, the motorway will close in both directions between junction 39 at Shap and junction 40 near Penrith.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Motorists are strongly advised to plan their journeys. Diversionary route information is available on the National Highways webpage.<\/p>\n<p>Image credit: Network Rail<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/railuk.com\/rail-news\/time-lapse-shows-huge-railway-bridge-under-construction-ahead-of-m6-renewal\/\" title=\"Time-lapse shows huge railway bridge under construction ahead of M6 renewal\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"485\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.railuk.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/22113843\/Old-bridge-from-new-Clifton-bridge-with-M6-and-Avanti-train-in-the-background-Network-Rail-485x360.jpg\" class=\"webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image\" alt=\"\"><\/a>The massive steel structure of a new \u00a360 million railway bridge set to take passengers over one of Britain\u2019s busiest railways over the M6 has now been completed. Passengers travelling on the West Coast Main Line through Penrith are set to benefit from a brand-new bridge, ensuring trains can safely and reliably travel along the [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[343,47,16031,913,85],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-305620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-infrastructure","category-rail-news","category-structures","category-travel","category-uk"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305620","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=305620"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305620\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":306111,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305620\/revisions\/306111"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=305620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=305620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=305620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}