Reading:New Rail bridge For Cow Lane

26 December 2011, 05:00 | Updated: 30 December 2011, 14:15

The new railway bridge is being lifted into place as part of the multi-million pound upgrade around Reading Station.

Cow Lane is shut from 19 December until January 30th, 2012, so one of its bridges can be replaced with a new railway bridge.

Traffic will be diverted via Oxford Road and Caversham Road.

It's part of the £515 million upgrade of railway lines in and around Reading station to remove a major bottleneck on the national rail network.

Reading Borough Council say the project is one of the most important rail schemes in the UK over the next decade.

It will mean passengers travelling to the West Country, Wales and to London won't have to face face regular delays in getting into or passing through the Reading Station area

It will also allow the current rail services to expand to meet the expected future demands with double the amount of trains able to use the area.

Journey's should also be quicker on Cow Lane when it opens at the end of January as the road will be wider.

Eimer Fitzpatrick from Network Rail says it will be lifted into place by heavy machinery on the December 26;

"Last year we did something similar and we had dozens of people turn up to watch so we've actually set up a viewing gallery this year. So if anyone's got a few hours to spare on Boxing Day morning, (they) can come and watch that."

See a time-lapse video of the bridge being lifted into place.

Reading Buses say it will cause delays to their peak services and are apologising to customers affected.