Station footbridge is back

Network Rail engineers have reinstalled the Grade-II listed structure at Codsall station after £850,000 was spent on the project.

The original Victorian walkway was struck by a road vehicle with a metal arm as it unloaded a delivery two years ago.

When the arm hit the bridge, which had stood at the station since 1883, it buckled, drawing crowds of spectators from across the village.

Rail enthusiasts feared the original Great Western structure would be replaced with a modern bridge.

But Network Rail always insisted it wanted to keep it as close to the original design as possible.

The wreckage was taken to a workshop in Cheshire after the restoration contract was awarded to a firm on the Wirral.

Staff went about the rebuilding process, often using the original iron bars that could not be saved to repair the corroded ends of other original pieces.

Wolverhampton-based firm Barr & Grosvenor set about the castings work for five new cast iron columns.

Planning permission was needed from South Staffordshire District Council as the proposals dealt with a listed structure.

The bridge cost £850,000 to salvage, restore and install and is made of 80 per cent of the original materials.

Network Rail spokesman Hazel Moss today the company was delighted with the design of the new bridge.

"The operation to lift in the bridge went very smoothly and we hope the local people of Codsall are as pleased with it as we are," she said.

"We are delighted that it is finally back where it belongs."

The footbridge will not be open to the public until the first week of June as engineers are completing the bedding in work and the installation of lighting.

No train services were affected by the bridge works as the structure was put in place in the early hours of the morning to avoid disruption.The bridge collapsed just after 6.20am on June 12, 2005, and brought chaos to the railway network as cranes moved in to remove it.

The stretch of line between Wolverhampton and Cosford had to be closed off, meaning many people trying to get to the annual air show at RAF Cosford had to find other ways of travelling to the popular event.

It was not until just before 5.15am the next day that the line reopened, with passengers then having to walk under the overhead railway bridge and up a slope to cross platforms.

A new glass and steel bridge, such as the one at Wolverhampton station, would have taken little time to install.

But villagers mounted a campaign to get the original structure put back to preserve the historic integrity of the station.