Track workers take night work advice online

The gangs broke off their work to film a series of short videos.

Work continues apace on the project with overhead line supports in place along several miles of line and worn out signals being removed.

Piling operative John Bonner explained what was happening during the night time work.

He said: ”It’s noisy business. It depends on the ground and on the type of pile we’re putting in but we try to keep the noise levels to a minimum.

“You get neighbours asking, especially when you are near their gardens, they come down and ask what’s going on.

“We explain what we’re doing and there’s a number they can ring 24/7, they can go on Twitter, they can e-mail.

People will have a better railway, things will be better for commuters.

“There’ll be less diesel engines, less noise on the rail so it will be better for neighbours too.”

Network Rail’s Hannah Hamlett (pictured) assured neighbours disruption would not last long.

She said: “Typically we do seven or eight piles in a shift, that’s four or five hundred metres. It’s the limit of what people should be able to hear. If we do a shift for the up line and a shift for the down that should be two nights of disruption.”

Network Rail is upgrading the Blackpool to Preston rail lines to allow electric trains to run. The line will shut for 19 weeks in November and work will be finished in May next year.