Bridge linking two towns could shut for railway work

Residents in two Leicestershire towns have raised concerns work to electrify the Midland Mainline could shut a key route between them.

Work is ongoing to upgrade the line between Leicester and London, with the section from the capital to Corby already completed, and changes taking place in south Leicestershire currently.

Residents fear the arrival of electrification in Wigston will mean the B583 Blaby Road, a major road connecting the town to South Wigston, needs a full closure and months of disruption.

One said the resulting traffic would be “absolute carnage” while another expressed fears shops could suffer.

The work has already meant the closure of a number of bridges in south Leicestershire for work to allow overhead lines to pass underneath.

Work will be needed at the bridge, Network Rail has confirmed, but investigation work will need to be completed in order to know the scope of what changes will take place next summer.

A campaign is under way to push for track lowering under the route to keep the road open instead of having it rebuilt.

A Network Rail spokesperson said: “We will need to work on this bridge as part of the next phase of electrification work in Wigston.

“As part of our early planning we will need to complete some surveys in the coming months.

“This will mean that there will be temporary traffic lights on the road for a short time while we complete this early preparatory work.

“We will make sure that we provide notice to residents and road users of this work in advance.

“Our current proposal is for the main works to take place early next summer but we are still reviewing various options and will provide further details when this is confirmed.”

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