Fury at Woodgate crossing disruption

Rail bosses are confident the scheme at Barnham, which has involed major resignalling work on the line, will be finished on time. The scheme is due to be completed this weekendafter ten days of disrupted rail journeys for passengers.

No trains will run in the Barnham area this Saturday and Sunday to enable more of the modern signalling equipment to be installed.

But last weekend's shutdown of the local rail network was followed by widespread disruption on Monday morning.

Signalling problems led to alterations, cancellations and delays as commuters returned to work and school along the west coastway line. Only limited services have been available all week between Bognor Regis and Barnham because of the large scale works. A ten-minute shuttle bus service is operating between the stations.

A Network Rail spokesman yesterday said: "This week's disruption was caused by an electrical fault during the installation of new circuitry."

"This incident is being thoroughly investigated. We are confident other related works on this important re-signalling project will proceed to schedule and deliver improvements in service reliability and performance for passengers."

The Woodgate crossing, which was closed last Friday, occupies a key spot on the A29 between Bognor and the Five Villages. Cutting the road in half led to widespread disruption on other main roads such as the A259, which was close to a standstill all day through North Bersted.

Bognor Regis area resident Simon Turner said he and many others were unaware of the closure.

The result was chaos on the roads as drivers unexpectedly found their route to work blocked.

"I drive through the crossing every day on my way to work in Windsor. I saw no warning signs about this impending work, and was not aware of the work until I was almost at the level crossing and other drivers starting signalling to me to turn around."

What do you think? Click here to send a letter or leave a comment below.

Click here to go back to Chichester news

Click here to go back to Bognor Regis news

Click here to go back to Midhurst and Petworth news

To tell us where in the world you are reading this story click on the link below to add yourself to our readers' map.

MAP