Kidderminster Footbridge

From SVR Wiki
Revision as of 23:01, 12 September 2021 by Patrick Hearn (talk | contribs) (Replacement in 2022)
Jump to: navigation, search
GWRGreat Western Railway 5029 "Nunney Castle" approaches Kidderminster under the footbridge
Kidderminster footbridge, looking towards Kidderminster station

Trains approaching Kidderminster station can be seen coming into view beneath Kidderminster Footbridge. The footbridge carries a public right of way between Hoo Road (near Kidderminster Harriers Football Club) and Chester Road South, crossing over both the SVRSevern Valley Railway lines and the adjacent Kidderminster to Hartlebury main line. There is no direct access between the footbridge and the SVRSevern Valley Railway. The bridge also carries a high voltage power cable.

The Network Rail plaque identifies it as Bridge 104, situated at 135 miles 22 chainsAs a unit of measurement, 22 yards or 1/80th of a mile. It has not been allocated a number in the SVRSevern Valley Railway's List of infrastructure. Similar plaques from the BRBritish Rail or British Railways era can still be seen on Worcester Road Bridge (Bridge 2) and Falling Sands Viaduct (Bridge 3).

A footbridge has existed at this location since it replaced a level crossing in the 19th century. Earlier bridges were of wooden construction, hence the current bridge is still sometimes referred to locally as 'the wooden bridge'.[1]

In the second photograph, the two lines to the left lead to the platforms at Kidderminster. To the right is the line leading to the connection to the main line and to the Carriage Repair Works. Beyond the fence is the Network Rail main line from Hartlebury to Kidderminster, originally part of the OW&WOxford Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway.

When the SVRSevern Valley Railway first extended to Kidderminster in July 1984, they bought from BRBritish Rail or British Railways the last section of the line to Kidderminster from the old boundary at Stourport Road Bridge, but at that stage had only leased the former Comberton Hill Goods Yard on which the station was built. The footbridge marked the boundary between the areas that the SVRSevern Valley Railway owned and leased[2].

Replacement

Long-mooted plans by Network Rail to replace the footbridge received financial approval in 2021, with works programmed from December until March 2022. The proposed design will be a single-span constructed in ‘weathering steel’ with new abutments at each end. All traces of the existing bridge will disappear including the central brick pier.[3] The SVRSevern Valley Railway's aspiration to extend the bridge to give access from the station to the turntable will remain an aspiration, due to a lack of funds.

References

  1. SVRSevern Valley Railway Souvenir Guide
  2. SVRSevern Valley Railway News 72
  3. Branch Lines, September 2021

See also

Kidderminster Station
List of infrastructure
Towards Bridgnorth