Kilsby Tunnel major upgrade works complete

A fortnight’s work on a Victorian-built railway tunnel is now complete to improve future journey times for passengers and freight on the West Coast main line.
Kilsby Tunnel near Daventry reopened (Monday 18 May) after major upgrades to drainage and track on a vital section of one of Europe’s busiest mixed-use passenger and freight railway lines.
It’s thought to be the longest full closure of the tunnel since it opened in 1837.
Because of the its age water leaks through the 183-year-old tunnel’s walls had caused the track to flood and degrade.
Speed restrictions had to be imposed for the 400 trains which passed through it on average every day, causing delays to tens of thousands of passengers travelling between Euston and the Midlands.
Now the waterproofing and track drainage improvement work is complete, trains will be able to run through the tunnel at full line speed of 110 mph once again.
This will save Avanti West Coast services a total of 82 minutes in delays every day.
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Pictures and images courtesy of / nrairops

[@blindpugh12]

Thank you for the clear-voiced commentary, as someone who is partially sighted, this made for a big step forward to these reports.

[@thegooselord4978]

William Gruff ooooo you’re edgy and cool please have my babies

[@TheDaf95xf]

Hats off too the orange army taking advantage of Covid-19 😄 It’s a fantastic KZbin channel as it shows us what the public can’t see 👍🏻 Being a train enthusiast it’s especially important seeing what’s happening on the network 😀 Well done and cheers Stevie 😎

[@paulfuray8557]

Yea, at least they took advantage of covid-19 as there is a reduced service. Looks a good job. That old Victorian tunnel should hopefully last another 100+ years.

[@paulfuray8557]

Chalet N It was planned, but it was a big job that was much needed. They needed the right time to put the plan into place. It would have meant a reduced or cancelled services if “normal” service was on anyway. May as well take advantage.

[@paulfuray8557]

Chalet N Who “planned” it all then mr/mrs know all. Basically It’s still a job that had to be done at some point. So trains would have been cancelled or delayed if rail was on normal service. Or am I missing something

[@1BCamden]

well done guys, turning a negative into a positive

[@darrenhillman8396]

Much better format, good clear commentary. Excellent work. Hats off to the Orange Army! I used to be part of the Orange Army (S&T, Liverpool) but retired in December 2018 after 41 years, 4 months on the railway.

[@alexmarshall4331]

Signals and telegraph? Ex p way👉🇬🇧👈

[@darrenhillman8396]

alex Marshall Hello Alex! Yes, mate. Enjoying being retired now though!

[@alexmarshall4331]

@@darrenhillman8396 Ex hither green loco depot...💯%

[@michaelleighton6879]

Permit me to support an early comment from Ian Norman re narration along with the usual subtitles for, especially, Week on the Network. And I enjoyed the use of the highly technical term "gunked up." Thanks.

[@philipspencer1834]

Well done NR. Great work from the whole team and one of the few good results to come out of this terrible time. 👍

[@tobyfarman]

I love railways! We need more electrification and more railways!

[@DanielMeakin1]

Fantastic work from our amazing team network rail keeping us on the move.

[@gb5uq]

Fantastic well done everyone.

[@MrJimKearns]

As a child we were taken through this tunnel many times on our from Watford to Holyhead behind those magnificent steam engines .. Thank you for all your work 👍

[@peterg957]

Well Done Everyone And Thank You...

[@jonathancook4022]

Well done NR!

[@KokkiePiet]

Me, being Dutch: This Tunnel is Almost 200 years old, isn’t it time to build a new one? Brit: that’s a bloody good tunnel that is, they don’t build ‘em like that anymore!

[@KokkiePiet]

William Gruff Just got to love that Sense Humor of the English.

[@KokkiePiet]

William Gruff Ah, so making a joke about other countries is your prerogative. I see.

[@ScienceChap]

@William Gruff he was joking mate. Chill out.

[@alexmarshall4331]

I've never noticed an incline let alone a tunnel in Holland... Are there any?

[@KokkiePiet]

alex Marshall Anything above sealevel we call a mountain.

[@rolandharmer6402]

Impressive! A wonderful piece of organisation at short notice.

[@JimWhitaker]

Switches and crossings - these are moveable sections of track that guide trains from one track to another and allow them to cross paths. They have an especially limited lifespan because trains cause wear and deformation when they travel across them. Sets of points - these are mechanical systems that move the switches and crossings. www.networkrail.co.uk/running-the-railway/looking-after-the-railway/track/

[@billlane7486]

Wonderful to at last be able to watch the video rather than simply trying to keep up with the sub titles. :)

[@foobertwo]

Not looking forward to the hustle and bustle of public transport, but this was a great way to get to the silver lining!

[@brushrescue1701]

Outstanding guys well done ....❤️❤️

[@fredMplanenut]

Well done to all involved, and an interesting and well narrated video.

[@amtrakharry]

Way to go guys !Well done ! Somebody was thinking ! Keep up the good work ! Thank you for the clear-voiced commentary and I to enjoyed the sub-titles as "Ian Norman stated below...:):):)

[@benneal3897]

Awesome work! Well done lads!

[@Surrey360]

Super cool

[@TaylorsTrainsMore]

This is very interesting! Could we have a video of the Kings across tunnels upgrade?

[@TheAmir259]

The Gasworks tunnels? They're reopening the East bore weren't they? Together with the Copenhagen tunnels?

[@grandtractiontours9583]

This is great as now we can do our West Coast mainline all the stations

[@williethomson8353]

The difference now being

[@grandtractiontours9583]

@@williethomson8353 that it will be less time and less chance of delays

[@sscfc1]

Love your work guys Greetings from Australia Come and fix our line too please

[@andrewbarrett42]

I always thought Australians hate us.

[@London1064]

Good video 👍

[@sjcsystems]

Was it during this possession that a worker died in Roade cutting? That could have been mentioned as a small tribute to his family.

[@thomaswykes3647]

I bet that standing water must have stunk!

[@Andrewjg_89]

No wonder the tunnel on the West Coast Main Line has been flooded many times due to heavy amounts of rain. Which causes major delays to trains. At least you are doing massive work to keep the railways safer. Sorry had to repost.

[@MrBook123456]

nice video

[@dodgydruid]

Wondering when NR started using the Americanism of "switches" over "points" :(

[@Edwardzzzz9]

They're referred as Switch and Crossings generally, I dont think it's an american term

[@JimWhitaker]

And this is one of the reasons why we need HS2. Ought to have been called WCML2.

[@briandempsey8038]

Fair play

[@alexmarshall4331]

Once we were P Way👉💎👈

[@stevenking6400]

I tested a new signal the this tunnel about 8 years ago

[@nigelkthomas9501]

The railway and common sense in the same place at the same time! I don’t believe it! It’s not that difficult to close this line because you can just divert via Northampton.

[@Kaizerzydeco1]

Great video, and good job getting Catherine Tate as narrator!

[@FairfaxJack]

Can you please come to the States and fix our rail infrastructure?

[@CosgroveNotts]

You need more than your rail infrastructure sorting

[@NaenaeGaming]

Am I the only one wondering why Network Rail is using iMovie? You would think they would have the ability to use better video making options

[@tomogotchi9140]

Does it matter? the point got across, they use reasonable iconography, and was well written and edited, not to mention all that funding might as well go into the maintenance rather than some better editing software. So the software used is irrelevant, at least they aren't using GoAnimate xP

[@withamarshview1436]

This is how effective corporate communications done! Thank you for fixing the infrastructure, and for producing this video describing what was done. Key points: immediately states the problem ("gunked up"), but more importantly it puts in human terms (the speed reductions meant delays for people and products). Too often, corporate videos are loud and braggadocious. But here the voice over is clear and calm. And rather than glorify themselves, Network Rail is grateful to their employees, contactors, and partners-and they recognize each "by name*. This video should be put in textbooks as Exhibit "A" for how to make project summary videos.

[@craigdoran6811]

Ticket to Dottingham please, she needs some Tunes!

[@NoPooftersHereUK1234]

😂😂😂😂😂

[@uzziel2005]

I preferred your previous music

[@Transpennine]

This is edited using iMovie

[@dickJohnsonpeter]

It still doesn't have pants

[@catsbyondrepair]

110 mph through a tunnel is stupid it's begging for a fatal accident.

[@NoPooftersHereUK1234]

Japanese bullet train go through faster not to mention German, French and Italian high speed trains. I think HS2 will be 250mph !

[@MultiGamerClub]

okay youtube..

[@williethomson8353]

Please go back to the old version

[@grandtractiontours9583]

Why?

[@williethomson8353]

@@grandtractiontours9583 I think it was the choice of voiceover not the principal

[@grandtractiontours9583]

Ah ok

[@volvos60bloke]

Horrendous voiceover

[@NoPooftersHereUK1234]

Agreed. A bit eeebahgum there's trouble at mill lass for my liking. Fiona Bruce would've sounded nicer IMO.

[@scottpool4777]

Yes if they wanted to get themselves there safely yes the crash no no do you American strange big very very big powerful I’d like to you about 35 miles an hour and it takes one of those trains a mile to stop. Oh yeah USA🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

[@alexmarshall4331]

Oh Yeah USA... Get a grip Spott Scool👉🇬🇧👈👉😷👈

[@foamer443]

@@alexmarshall4331 Glad you understood Scotty. I think the Covid's got him.

[@NoPooftersHereUK1234]

Scott, are you anorexic.. I mean, dyslexic ? 😉😉