When the railway bridge which carries the west coast main line over the M6 at Clifton south of Penrith is moved the major civil engineering project will bring back fond memories for local resident John Kent.
John was there when the original bridge was installed in the 1960s and recalls its arrival vividly.
He was serving as a police officer based in Penrith when word reached town that the then new bridge was about to be installed.
John and many others came to see the arrival of the structure and watch the first trains to cross it.
“It was spectacular!” John recalls. “We’d been following the progress of the railway modernisation closely but to see the bridge installed at Clifton was amazing. Crowds gathered to watch it be moved into position.”
Now, half a century later, history is about to repeat itself.
The Clifton Bridge has weight limits leading to delays for passenger and freight services on the route, a vital freight and passenger artery between England and Scotland.
John and his neighbours have been tracking progress on the replacement bridge which has been built across the motorway from the village. A new motorway junction was built to service the construction site which has steadily grown.
Network Rail has already built the £60m replacement structure which weighs around three thousand tonnes alongside the railway line ready for installation early next year.
At 130 metres long the replacement bridge is big and has been assembled from large prefabricated beams.
The first five beams, manufactured in Glasgow, arrived in August. Individual beams range from 21m to 37m long, 3m to 4m wide and weigh between 35 and 89 tonnes.
The removal of the original bridge and installation of the new one will take place between January 1 and January 14 when no trains will run on the line between Oxenholme and Carlisle.
The M6 will also be shut on two consecutive weekends, from 8pm on Friday January 2 and 5am on Monday January 5 and 8pm on Friday January 9 and 5am Monday January 12 2026. During these periods, the motorway will close in both directions between junction 39 at Shap and junction 40 near Penrith.
In addition to make the most of the closure, more than 80 kilometres of overhead cables which power trains will also be replaced and significant work will take place on a £61m digital upgrade to signalling systems north of Carlisle.
For John and his neighbours watching one of the region’s biggest civil engineering projects take shape has been fascinating and he’s looking forward to watching the installation of the new bridge with the same interest he showed 50 years ago.
“We’ve been to the various talks about the project held in the village and we’ve read the letters and emails about the project,” John said. “I think it will be a real sight to see.”
