Hitchin flyover marks main span milestone

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The 30 tonne main span of the new Hitchin flyover has been lifted into place, marking a major milestone in the project’s construction.

The section was hoisted into position by a 120 tonne crane early on Sunday morning (July 1).

The Hitchin flyover will see trains for the line to Cambridge and Ely leave the East Coast Main Line on a new stretch of railway, avoiding the current flat junction just north of the town’s station. They will then cross the existing main line on a bridge and rejoin the old Cambridge route almost a mile to the east of the town.

It took just an hour and a half to drop the span and bolt it into place.

Network Rail’s route managing director Phil Verster said: “The Hitchin flyover will make a real difference to passengers who travel on the East Coast Main Line, as well as people traveling to Cambridge and beyond.

“Trains will run more reliably and punctually, and we will have cleared one of the major bottlenecks on the route.”

Network Rail has said the new rail link will cut delays to train services by nearly 30,000 minutes every year and create the additional capacity to run more services.

The new stretch of line, which is expected to cost £47 million in total, should be open by early 2014.

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