Network Rail maps assets to ease roadwork disruption

Network Rail has mapped its assets on the National Street Gazetteer to help cut road work disruption.

The National Street Gazetteer (NSG) is the definitive source of road information for notifying and co-ordinating street works.

The NSG now includes details of every bridge (12,000-plus), tunnel or level crossing (1,600-plus), owned and managed by Network Rail, which meets the public road network.

The move will assist in planning and carrying out works performed by highway authorities and public utilities such as electricity, gas, telecommunications and water companies, or their contractors.

For the past five years a team of dedicated staff at Network Rail have been compiling a database of additional street data (ASD) for inclusion in the NSG.

ASD identifies the exact location of every railway asset with a geographical reference to roads held in the NSG using their unique street reference number. There will also be a reference to the national grid.

Davy Crockett, Network Rail's national highways interface manager, said, "After five years of painstaking work we have arrived at a point where we can say our asset dataset is substantially complete."

"Our data is now available to all highways authorities and any company using the NSG to reference street works notifications. This will have a positive impact on the consultation process, improve safety and help ensure street-works are properly planned and co-ordinated," he said.

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