RESIDENTS have faced another sleepless night after a second evening of noisy railway works in Royal Wootton Bassett.

The works – organised by Network Rail – began in the early hours of Tuesday morning, keeping residents awake until around 4am.

Workers are using piling equipment to create the deep foundations needed for electricity pylons, installed as part of the electrification of the London-Bristol line.

Yesterday, New Road resident Heather Wannell, 47, said: “It was horrendous. The house was vibrating.”

Heather had lodged a formal complaint with Network Rail. “I think Network Rail needs to have a bit more consideration for their neighbours.”

Another resident, Maria Pryor, 64, who has lived on New Road since 1983, told the Adver: “It woke us up with quite a fright. The whole house started to judder – everything was just vibrating really badly.

“I do worry for the foundations of the house.”

Last night, residents were kept awake again, as noisy works split the midnight quiet.

Heather said in the early hours this morning: “It’s the second night in a row and my neighbours and I are all awake. The noise is dreadful. My house is shaking.

“Network Rail way the works are scheduled to continue until September 1. Apparently, as it moves along the track it’s supposed to not be so bad. But in my opinion the problem will just roll on with more people being upset.”

She joked: “Work is going to be fun.”

Network Rail yesterday apologised to residents affected by the noise.

A spokesman said: “As part of our Railway Upgrade Plan to electrify the railway from London Paddington to Cardiff we are erecting electric overhead line equipment between Swindon and Royal Wootton Bassett overnight for the next three nights.

“This involves putting large steel foundations into the ground (piling) to hold the overhead equipment and these works can be noisy.”

Network Rail said they distributed 45,000 leaflets and almost 6,000 letters to inform residents about the works. However, they acknowledged that information on their website was not up to date when residents tried to access it on Tuesday.

“We recognise that these works are noisy and we make all efforts to inform residents in advance as much as possible. Those who live near to the railway will of course directly benefit from these works as they will enable us to run electric trains which are much quieter and cleaner.”

Information about the piling works can be found on Network Rail’s website: https://www.networkrail.co.uk/running-the-railway/our-routes/western/great-western-mainline/wiltshire-swindon/