WHEN it comes to travelling by train over Christmas and the New Year there is a collective moan across the country as trains are cancelled, lines are closed and services are diverted. But there’s another side to this story, as some mighty engineering works are completed to modernise crumbling Victorian infrastructure.
Around our way in Agar Grove, Camden Town, an army of engineers has mustered, deploying some of the tallest cranes and most massive girders I have ever seen. They are rebuilding a bridge built when the Midland Railway came to London in 1864 and is now life expired. The new bridge was constructed in Scotland to ensure the bits fit together and brought down to London in 100ft flatbed lorries, which are now parked in our local streets ready for the go.
When life gets back to normal next week, few of the thousands of passengers speeding from St Pancras to Nottingham and Sheffield will give this £31m project a thought. But we must feel thankful for the skills of the men and women who worked round the clock throughout the holidays to complete a magnificent feat of engineering.
