Green light for Ordsall Chord

The green light was given to Network Rail’s £132 million Ordsall Chord project on October 14, after Mrs Justice Lang dismissed the legal challenge mounted in the High Court on September 25.

Mark Whitby, a former design consultant for Network Rail on the project, and the former president of the Institution of Civil Engineers, lodged three challenges to the approval granted in March (two statutory challenges of the Transport and Works Act Order, one of the Listed Building Consent), and obtained a Judicial Review of the planning process.

Mrs Justice Lang, who had deferred her decision at the end of the one-day hearing in September, also refused permission for Whitby to appeal. The decision came four years and eight days after Network Rail started consultations on its proposals, which was granted government funding in the 2010 Budget.

• For much more on this, including an in-depth feature, read RAIL 786, published on October 28.