Changes

Modern railway practice is to use continuously welded rail (CWR), in which adjacent lengths of rail are welded together, removing the need for fishplates. This gives a smoother ride and reduces maintenance costs. Whilst heritage railways do not generally use CWR, it is used on the sections of track across [[Victoria Bridge]] and through [[Bewdley Tunnel]] (installed during the winter of 2011-12) in order to simplify maintenance in these areas of restricted access. In [[Severn Valley Railway Timeline 2010-2019#2016 | Winter 2015-16]] around &frac12; mile of track at the summit of [[Eardington Bank]] was also relaid with CWR; the SVR announced that ''it has to be realised that the SVR has to look to reducing the maintenance load on the PW teams who are not getting any younger. This section will require vastly less maintenance than the previous jointed bullhead rail allowing the resource that we do have to concentrate more on the remaining jointed sections''.<ref>[http://www.svrlive.com/Pages/Infrastructure.aspx SVR Live Infrasructure page]</ref>  The 1960s track acquired by the SVR from BR predominantly used wooden sleepers, many of which were in less than ideal condition. Although wooden sleepers have generally been retained in stations for aesthetic purposes, the rest of the line has been re-laid over the years using more modern concrete, or rarely steel, sleepers. A substantial portion of the relaying at the north end of the line was done during the 1970s with the aid of labour funded by the [[Manpower Service Commission]].