Noise from work on Chiswick Station footbridge keeps Grove Park neighbours awake

Network Rail engineers working on the footbridge at Chiswick Station; photographs Stuart Cooke

Work on the footbridge will continue until 15 September

Construction work on the footbridge over the railway lines at Chiswick Station has been so loud overnight it has been keeping local residents in Grove Park awake.

Notices went up in July warning the footbridge would be closed from Saturday 2 August – Monday 15 September while engineers with Network Rail installed new steel structures, removed the temporary scaffolding, cleaned the structure and repainted it.

READ ALSO: No trains through Chiswick Station 23-31 August, footbridge closed until 15 September

Network Rail engineers working on the footbridge at Chiswick Station; photograph Stuart Cooke

“Banging, power tools and shouting all night”

One resident who lives nearby wrote to The Chiswick Calendar to say:

“They have begun construction work on the footbridge at Chiswick Station on Sunday morning. They actually started work at 1 am and continued into the late afternoon.

“The noise was extremely bad. In my bedroom, the noise level was +90dB. The legal limit is 24dB. It was impossible to sleep”.

Network Rail sent a letter to those living near the station, saying they would keep noise to a minimum, but he said that was not what happened:

“They were not making any effort to do this with banging, power tools and shouting all night. This has continued each night from 11pm , after the last train, and goes on for hours. Presumably, this will continue until mid-September.

“I have sent complaints to Hounslow council. Network Rail and South Western Rail at the weekend.  But I have had no response”.

Network Rail is trying to get work done on the tracks and on the footbridge in as short a time as possible over the summer holidays when fewer people are travelling.

They are carrying out major engineering work on Barnes Railway Bridge, so the track between Barnes and Kew Bridge will be closed from Saturday 23 and Sunday 31 August.

Network Rail engineers working on the footbridge at Chiswick Station; photograph Stuart Cooke

Network Rail “Sorry for the disruption”

In a statement from the company a spokesperson said:

“We’re very sorry to residents living near Chiswick station for the disruption experienced over the past few evenings. As part of our essential safety critical refurbishment works on Chiswick station footbridge, we are undertaking mechanical descaling, which involves removing old paint from the structure.

“Noise levels are being monitored and we have begun installing acoustic barriers to help reduce the impact. This won’t eliminate the noise entirely, but it will mitigate it.

“The mechanical descaling phase of work is expected to finish by the end of Friday evening at 10pm. This will be followed with preparing the structure for painting which will be less disruptive, and every effort will be made to complete this work during daytime.

“To complete the works, there are further day and night-time works planned during the railway line closure from 23–31 August during which steel work repairs will take place.

“We are committed to minimising disruption wherever possible and a further update will be provided to lineside neighbours prior to 23 August.”

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