Sorry, here’s the rest of it.
I also asked about ‘summer rails’ which have been mentioned by a number of people. This isn’t a term the engineers recognise. However, the company paints the end of the rails white which apparently reduces the temperature of the rails on a hot day by 2-3 degrees. They also ‘double clip’ the rails to the rail base plate which also reduces the amount of thermal expansion.
They will be instructing the bridge operators to improve the wording put on the electronic signs so that the cause of any delay is displayed, as well as the anticipated time when the bridge is expected to be able to let boats pass.
Regarding communications, I am told that next year when the improvements to the signalling are complete the bridge operators will have more time to take calls from boat owners.
In terms of the Authority’s preferred option of replacement bridges, there is no funding available to Network Rail in their current planning period which runs from 2019 to 2025 and we have committed to work with them to support the case for investment in readiness for the next window of opportunity from 2025.
We will continue to monitor the performance of the bridges and have agreed to a further meeting with Network Rail’s engineers in August.