Peterborough residents angered after being woken up at 4am by rail works

People living in Werrington, Walton, Paston and Gunthorpe reported having their sleep disturbed at 4am by a loud drilling noise which was due to Network Rail engineers carrying out work to build a dive under at Werrington Junction.

Network Rail said it had sent out letters to more than 500 residents warning them that the works were due to take place.

However, among those to voice their anger on social media at being woken up was landlord of The Ploughman in Werrington, Andy Simmonds, who tweeted Network Rail that he would be making a formal complaint to Peterborough City Council.

Other residents voicing their disapproval also did not appear to be aware that the works were due to take place.

A Network Rail spokesperson said: “Most of the work to install sheet piling at Werrington has taken place during the day time, but some of it can only be carried out safely overnight when there are no trains on the line.

“Letters were sent to over 500 residents who live near the railway so they were aware that work would be taking place in the area between 11.45pm on Saturday to 8am on Sunday.

“We work hard to minimise the impact our work has on the community. Vibration piling is mainly used which can only be felt by those who are close to the site. However, due to the ground conditions, hammer piling also had to be used in some locations, which was louder.

“We would like to apologise to residents for any disruption that this work caused. It was essential that it was carried out so the line could be reopened on Sunday morning. This meant train services could continue getting those who cannot work from home, such as doctors and nurses, to and from their jobs and so that vital supplies could continue to be transported across the county via freight services.

“This ongoing work is part of the £1.2 billion East Coast Upgrade. We have measures in place to minimise disruption for residents and will continue to clearly communicate with them as work progresses on the project.”

The dive under will take freight trains off the East Coast Main Line and connect them with the Great Northern Great Eastern Line as part of a multi-million pound scheme.

Once completed this will help ease congestion and create capacity for more train services to run on the East Coast Main line to and from London King’s Cross in the future.

Noise concerns have previously been raised, although this did not stop the scheme being approved following a public inquiry.