Improvement work to the North Norfolk Railway at Sheringham Station. PHOTO: ANTONY KELLY

Work is steaming ahead on a £50,000 project to improve a busy tourist attraction railway station.

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Diggers and cranes have been removing 70-year-old parts and upgrading drainage on the tracks of North Norfolk Railway’s Sheringham station since last week.

The three-week project will see more than 300 timber sleepers replaced.

Bob Wright, volunteer director of civil engineering for the railway, has been involved with the planning of the project and said although not a technically difficult job it is “a major task”.

He added: “These are major improvements being undertaken at the station, involving overhauling the track.

“We have lifted the rails up to remove any rotten timber sleepers and will replace with new ones. We’ll also dig down about 300mm to dig out old stone and clay to improve drainage.

“We are replacing over 300 timber sleepers and by improving drainage it will make sure the sleepers last longer and do not rot away.”

The sleepers were last replaced in the 1940s when the station was owned by British Railways and Mr Wright hopes that the new sleepers will last as long as their predecessors.

He said: “It is a major task and there is a fair amount of work involved. Although it isn’t hugely expensive it is costing in the region of 
£50,000.

“This money is from the part of the business that invests back into the maintenance of the railway.”

The work is being carried out by both paid staff and volunteers and sees up to eight people working on the project per day.

“The project is not massive but it’s a big one for us,” said Mr Wright.

“It doesn’t provide anything we didn’t have before. It’s just routine replacement that is bringing the track back to how it was.”

Mr Wright said the work was attracting a lot of attention from the public. The station is currently closed while the work is ongoing. Trains will be running again from mid February.