Residents of the North side of Eagle Road were denied their Sunday morning lie-in last week when Network Rail began maintenance work on the Rope Walk level crossing and the adjacent line to the East. Work started at around 5:30am and both the crossing and access to Deadmans Lane from Rye Hill was closed – although it continued to be used as the only means of vehicle access to and from Love Lane.
A JCB is, at the best of times, not the quietest of machines and in the early hours of the morning sounded even louder as it removed the surface plates from the crossing before other work on the line could be started. The total job was estimated to take up to around 18 hours and had to be completed and checked before the first trains on Monday morning, so this was the reason for the early start. The work continued non-stop all day and locals went to sleep that night to the gentle shaking of houses as heavy-duty machinery compacted newly laid ballast late into the night. All this was undoubtedly a small inconvenience, however it was a carefully planned and efficiently executed piece of essential maintenance by Network Rail to make our journeys safer but at least those who had to suffer the disturbance did so in the warmth and comfort of their own homes and, unlike the workers on the railway, were not outside on a cold dark winter morning and facing a day that would not end until the early hours of the following morning. If only Southern Rail were as efficient!
Photos: John Minter
