Maintenance and closures

The Transport Department of the Velocity Interoperability Network is responsible for the upkeep of every designated route to the standard of its class. Trunk routes are maintained to the highest standard because they carry the heaviest and most frequent traffic; regional and service routes are maintained to standards appropriate to their traffic; and restricted routes are maintained under arrangements agreed with the member named on the designating order. This page sets out the Department's inspection standards, its programme of planned works to the end of 2026, the notices it issues when a route is affected, and how a defect may be reported.

Until the Department was established, each member organisation maintained the routes serving its own sites. Those arrangements were transferred to the Department during the transition period from 10 August to 5 September 2026, together with the inspection records held by members, and the programme of works below was drawn up from a condition survey of all 260 kilometres of designated route completed during that period.

Inspection standards. The table sets out how often each class of route is inspected and how quickly a reported defect is repaired.

A routine inspection is a visual inspection of the whole route, its structures and its drainage. A detailed inspection examines every structure on the route, tests the surface and measures the clearances against the limits for the class. The repair target runs from the day a defect is reported or found and applies to defects that do not make the route unsafe; a dangerous defect is dealt with at once by restricting or closing the section.

Planned works, September to December 2026. The works below were notified on 6 September 2026. Dates are inclusive. Where the effect on traffic extends to the timetable, the retimed services and paths are published there for the period of the works.

No section speed restriction is in force at 6 September 2026 other than those listed above for their stated periods. Works on Class D routes are arranged with the member concerned and are not listed here. The Department publishes a revised programme each quarter and adds items between quarters by planned works notice.

Notices. The Department issues four kinds of notice about the condition of routes. All are published in the Newsroom and are sent by email to every permit holder whose permit covers the route concerned.

Planned works notice

Issued at least fourteen days before work begins on a designated route. States the route and section, the dates, the effect on scheduled services and goods paths, and any diversion.

Emergency closure notice

Issued at once when a route, or a section of it, must be closed for safety following an incident, a structural fault or severe weather. States the extent of the closure and the diversion, and is followed within one working day by a notice of the expected duration.

Speed restriction notice

Issued where a section of route may remain open only at a speed below the limit for its class. States the section, the restricted speed and the expected duration, and is withdrawn by a further notice when the restriction is lifted.

Diversion notice

Issued where traffic is directed over another designated route while a route is closed. Traffic following a diversion is bound by the conditions of the class of the route it is diverted onto; goods that may not use that class must wait for the closure to end.

Reporting a defect. Anyone using a designated route may report a defect in its surface, structures, drainage, markers or signage. Reports from permit holders and from the operators of scheduled services are particularly valuable because they cover the routes daily.

1. 1

   Step 1: Note the location

   Record the route number, the direction of travel and the nearest site or distance marker. Distance markers on trunk and regional routes are numbered from the Ministry seat or from the trunk route the regional route joins.

2. 2

   Step 2: Describe the defect and any immediate danger

   Say what you saw, when, and whether traffic can still pass safely. A defect that makes a route unsafe should also be reported to Emergency Services if there is a danger to people.

3. 3

   Step 3: Send the report by email

   Write to contact@transport.gov.vin with the word Defect at the start of the subject line. Include your permit number if you hold one, and a photograph if you were able to take one safely.

4. 4

   Step 4: Acknowledgement and inspection

   The Department acknowledges every report within one working day. A defect reported as dangerous is inspected at once; any other defect is inspected within the repair target for the class of route, or at the next routine inspection if that comes sooner.

5. 5

   Step 5: Outcome

   The Department writes to the person who made the report when the defect has been repaired or when it has decided that no repair is needed, and records the defect and its outcome in its maintenance log.

Compliance with closure, speed restriction and diversion notices is a condition of every permit; see the Conditions of traffic. Questions about the programme of works or about the maintenance of a particular route may be sent to contact@transport.gov.vin. The routes themselves are listed in the schedule of routes.