Residents living in the shadow of the famous Tay Rail Bridge could face a summer of sleepless nights.
Locals on the Fife side of the Tay in particular have been warned about the prospect of disruption on certain nights between now and the start of September as essential track maintenance is carried out.
Network Rail has apologised in advance for any disturbance caused and will try to keep that to a minimum, although the nature of the work means it will have to be done between the hours of 11pm and 7am.
The project will be done in phases spread over four or five nights, with 11 separate programmes of work pencilled in over the coming months. This is after work began last week.
Councillor Jonny Tepp, Liberal Democrat member for the Tay Bridgehead area, says residents in Wormit are most likely to be affected, as that’s where the bridge enters Fife on the south side of the Tay.
“Everyone accepts that maintenance needs to be done,” he pointed out.
“However, residents contacted me saying that they had not been notified of works under way, and some that had received a letter told me that the dates in the letter did not match up to the dates on which work was being undertaken.
“After bringing this to the notice of Network Rail they issued me with a new letter including different dates to the previous letter that I had seen from early March.
“I am not sure if the new letter has been distributed to residents but I am trying to publicise it as widely as possible together with the Network Rail number for questions or concerns.”
According to the revised plan, work will be carried out from Sunday May 31 to Thursday June 4; Sunday June 7 to Thursday June 11; Sunday June 21 to Wednesday June 24; Tuesday June 30 to Thursday July 2; Monday July 6 to Thursday July 9; Sunday July 19 to Wednesday July 22; Sunday July 26 to Thursday July 30; Monday August 3 to Thursday August 6; Monday August 24 to Thursday August 27; and Sunday August 30 to Thursday September 3.
Mr Tepp pointed out that any residents with concerns or queries can contact Network Rail’s 24-hour helpline on 03457 11 41 41 or via their website www.networkrail.co.uk/contactus.
Network Rail confirmed the summer of work will involve track maintenance.
“Unfortunately, the equipment we use – in this case Rail Road Vehicles, on-track plant and hand power tools – means that some noise is unavoidable, but we will do all we can to minimise it,” a spokesperson added.
“We have also asked those working on site to work with consideration for the local community.
“We understand that working overnight is far from ideal, but we are legally obliged to work on the railway at times that cause least disruption to trains.
“Unfortunately, this means carrying out a lot of our work at weekends or at night.”
