Tarro Rail Bridge update
Transcript
00:00 Well fortunately we've been able to commence work to repair the deck surface of Taro Bridge
00:06 commencing last night. That followed inspections that we'd undertaken yesterday morning and has
00:12 given us a plan for the repairs that we're going to be able to undertake over the coming weeks.
00:16 Well motorists will see our workers on the deck, so the top surface of the bridge in the lanes that
00:22 are already closed as they might have noticed last night. That work will continue over the coming
00:28 days, so over the coming weeks we expect to have this work completed. Yes the restrictions that are
00:34 currently in place in terms of single lane operations will remain in place for the next
00:39 little while until we fix the top deck. We're also noting that the freight restrictions, so
00:46 particularly for the class 1 oversize over mass and for the very heavy trucks remain in place
00:54 and we're also urging all other heavy vehicle operators to avoid the area if they can.
00:59 That will just help ease congestion. So the work that's being done is in terms of undertaking slab
01:05 and surface repair. That's to make sure that the surface of the bridge remains suitable and safe.
01:13 Look we know this has been a really tough time for all of the local motorists, for our freight
01:17 industry. We understand that this has added a lot of extra time to everybody's daily commute.
01:23 We apologize for the inconvenience but we also say a huge thank you for your patience.
01:27 We're working as quickly as we can to return this bridge to full service.
01:32 So what we've seen is that a lot of people have decided to take the train into Newcastle to work,
01:37 which is fantastic, but it also has seen that those services have had a significant uplift in
01:43 the number of passengers. So there's two things that we've done. The first is that each of those
01:48 AM and PM peaks are now stopping at all stations and as of Monday we're adding an extra service
01:56 in the AM and in the PM peak. So that will cater for another 180 passengers in each direction,
02:04 AM and PM peaks. So to manage the network we've established a customer coordination centre at our
02:12 Newcastle office and what that team is doing is helping to phase our traffic lights, monitor
02:18 passenger numbers on our train services and respond to any disruption that's on the network.
02:25 So our transport commanders, our traffic emergency patrol crew, our tow truck operators, we've got
02:31 them all on standby ready to respond if there is disruption because we know we need to keep
02:36 those lanes open as best as we possibly can.
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