The Bletchley Flyover was originally a

reinforced concrete Reinforced concrete (RC), also called reinforced cement concrete (RCC) and ferroconcrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion of reinforcement having hig ...

railway viaduct A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide ...

that carried the former

Varsity line The Varsity Line (or the Oxford to Cambridge railway line) was the main railway route that once linked the English university cities of Oxford and Cambridge, operated by the London and North Western Railway. During World War II the line was ...

between and over the

West Coast Main Line The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important railway corridors in the United Kingdom, connecting the major cities of London and Glasgow with branches to Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Edinburgh. It is one of the busiest ...

(WCML) at

Bletchley railway station Bletchley is a railway station that serves the southern parts of Milton Keynes, England (especially Bletchley itself), and the north-eastern parts of Aylesbury Vale. It is 47 miles (75 km) northwest of , about 32 miles (51 km) east of ...

Milton Keynes Milton Keynes ( ) is a city and the largest settlement in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of its urban area was over . The River Great Ouse forms its northern boundary; a tributary ...

, England. It was retained but largely unused when the line closed until it was demolished in late 2020 and early 2021. During 2021, the East West Rail Alliance rebuilt the flyover and the route was in use by engineering trains by early 2022.

Construction

The original structure was composed of 37 concrete

span Span may refer to: Science, technology and engineering * Span (unit), the width of a human hand * Span (engineering), a section between two intermediate supports * Wingspan, the distance between the wingtips of a bird or aircraft * Sorbitan ester ...

s, resting on concrete

pier image:Brighton Pier, Brighton, East Sussex, England-2Oct2011 (1).jpg, Seaside pleasure pier in Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th century. A pier is a raised structure that rises above a body of ...

s. It is long. Most of the spans are beam-shaped; two are double-length

arches An arch is a vertical curved structure that spans an elevated space and may or may not support the weight above it, or in case of a horizontal arch like an arch dam, the hydrostatic pressure against it. Arches may be synonymous with vault ...

Electrification Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source. The broad meaning of the term, such as in the history of technology, economic histor ...

pads were provided when the flyover was first built, despite there being no plans to electrify the line.

History

In 1959, the Bletchley Flyover was opened to carry the

over the

(WCML) as part of the

British Rail Modernisation Plan British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

. The plan proposed to develop the Varsity Line as a freight link from the East Coast ports to South Wales, capable of handling up to 2,400 wagons of coal class traffic and empties daily. However, following

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...

ways deciding not to proceed with the Swanbourne sidings plan, the line saw little use, with most freight traffic taking other routes. The Varsity line closed to passengers on 1 January 1968; it remained open to goods traffic until October 1993, when the bridge was mothballed.Bletchley Flyover Project ''

Railways Illustrated ''Railways Illustrated'' is a British monthly railway magazine. Inside there is detail of news, stock changes, tours, and more. It is aimed at railway enthusiasts. Founded in 2003 by Ian Allan Publishing, it was published by Key Publishing f ...

'' July 2020 page 12 The flyover was returned to use in 2006 along with a mile of track west of Bletchley to a loop at the Newton Longville Brickworks landfill site.

2020/2021 rebuild

As part of the

East West Rail East West Rail is a major project to establish a strategic railway connecting East Anglia with Central, Southern and Western England. In particular, it plans to build (or rebuild) a line linking Oxford and Cambridge via Bicester, Milton Keyne ...

project that will reopen the OxfordCambridge route, work to replace 14 of the spans began in April 2020. Sections beside and over the WCML were removed in April and May. The arches crossing Buckingham Road (on the east side of WCML) started being removed on 5 July 2020. "The final span was lifted out by crane in October and the last of the supporting piers and pillars were removed over the weekend of 9-10 January 2021". At the early May 2021 holiday, 103 concrete girders were lifted into place to provide the bridge deck over the main line. During summer 2021, a new structure was built for use by

, in the form of a box tunnel around the WCML; by February 2022, of track had been installed over the new flyover, enabling engineering trains to reach the eastern end of the construction site. (Project Progress) The renovation project includes a plan to construct high level platforms for Bletchley station, just after the eastern end of the flyover. These platforms will serve East West Rail (only).

References

External links

* {{Transport in Milton Keynes Bletchley Bridges completed in 1959 Buildings and structures in Milton Keynes Concrete bridges in the United Kingdom Rail transport in Milton Keynes Railway bridges in Buckinghamshire 1959 establishments in England East West Rail