Gerrards Cross Incident
Tesco proposed building a supermarket over the railway line near Gerrards Cross railway station in 1996, which, following an initial objection by the local council was approved by the Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott in July 1998. Due to a lack of space in the area, Tesco had proposed building over the railway line, which would free up a large area of land suitable for the development.
During construction, the partially built tunnel collapsed on 30 June 2005. Nobody was injured but the line was closed for over six weeks, eventually reopening on 20 August 2005. Compensation by Tesco to Chiltern Railway and Network Rail was estimated to be between £5-20m and the retailer pledged to fund a media campaign to win back passengers lost by the closure of its route. Construction of the tunnel finally resumed in January 2009. The store opened in late November 2010.
Read more about this topic: Chiltern Railways
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