Just a guess here, but maybe they're just relocating the queue line to ground level like Chessington did.
One thing that really pisses me off with park chains - and this isn't just Merlin - is inconsistent H&R at different sites. If, for example, running multi train coasters in the rain is unsafe at Cedar Point, why is it perfectly safe at Kings Island? If dueling trains is unsafe at Islands of Adventure, why wasn't it at the ...Singapore? park.
Maybe Ripsaw isn't leaving just yet, maybe. Or maybe its going to be used for parts for Rameses... To be honest, the fact they seem to be rather delicately taking it apart, rather than wrecking it all and chucking it in a skip, implies to me that they are doing improvement works, not removal.