Shareholders question unfinished Great Central Railway canal bridge work

Great Central Railway shareholders have raised concerns about unfinished restoration work on the railway’s bridge over the Great Union Canal in Loughborough, six years after they were told the project was “almost complete”. The railway says the structure is in good order and that the remaining work is largely superficial brickwork to its wing walls.

Four shareholders approached LeicestershireLive about the delay. One is a founding member of the Main Line Steam Trust, the organisation from which the railway company evolved. The charity has raised funds for the bridge project.

Shareholders received an email in March 2020 describing the restoration as almost complete. One shareholder said a press release that year had claimed the work was completed. They questioned whether the bridge walls had been inspected, citing images of the south-east and south-west wing walls and the underside of the structure.

The shareholder said the planned restoration included repointing and repairs to the canal bridge’s walls, and described the bridge as being in poor condition. They warned that continuing deterioration could mean more work and expense. The shareholder also said the capping bricks were non-standard and could be costly to source.

The shareholder criticised the railway’s use of the bridge work in further fundraising, arguing that promotion of the project as complete sat uneasily with the repairs they believed remained outstanding. These are the shareholders’ concerns; the railway disputes their assessment of the bridge’s condition.

Great Central Railway said its bridges are inspected regularly by a qualified structures engineer. It described the bridge in question as being in “good order”.

General manager Malcolm Holmes said the work had been substantially completed, apart from superficial finishing. He said the outstanding work was largely superficial brickwork to the wing walls and would be undertaken when funds allowed.

Holmes said the Reunification project was continuing and that more of it was expected to be constructed the following year. He also thanked those who had supported it.

The dispute centres on the difference between the railway’s description of the bridge work as substantially complete and shareholders’ concerns about the visible masonry and remaining repairs. The railway says the structure is regularly inspected and that the outstanding work is superficial; shareholders have questioned whether the walls have been properly assessed and whether further deterioration could increase the cost of finishing the restoration.

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