ABSEILERS DROP IN TO HELP SHORE UP CLIFF FACE

Wednesday 17 Mar 2004

ABSEILERS DROP IN TO HELP SHORE UP CLIFF FACE

Region & Route:: | Wales & Western: Wales & Borders; | Wales & Western

Network Rail has enlisted a team of abseilers to help stabilise the cliff face beneath the railway at Friog, near Fairbourne, Gwynedd. The abseilers have anchored in gabion baskets – mesh boxes packed with rocks – to help shore up the cliff face. They have also bolted on netting which will help prevent landslips and contain any rocks that are liable to movement. Altogether the project has cost £1 million and is part of on-going work on the Cambrian line, which includes major repairs to Caersws viaduct, coastal protection work at Llanaber, and bridge strengthening at Welshpool. “The work we have just undertaken was vital to ensure the future safety of the railway line, because the cliffs in the area are liable to landslips both above and below the railway which runs along a ledge, cut into the cliffs” said Network Rail Project Manager Scott Pillinger.

Contact information

Passengers / community members
Network Rail national helpline
03457 11 41 41

Latest travel advice
Please visit National Rail Enquiries

Journalists
Network Rail press office -Western route
MediaRelationsWestern@networkrail.co.uk

About Network Rail

We own, operate and develop Britain's railway infrastructure; that's 20,000 miles of track, 30,000 bridges, tunnels and viaducts and the thousands of signals, level crossings and stations. We run 20 of the UK's largest stations while all the others, over 2,500, are run by the country's train operating companies.

Usually, there are almost five million journeys made in the UK and over 600 freight trains run on the network. People depend on Britain's railway for their daily commute, to visit friends and loved ones and to get them home safe every day. Our role is to deliver a safe and reliable railway, so we carefully manage and deliver thousands of projects every year that form part of the multi-billion pound Railway Upgrade Plan, to grow and expand the nation's railway network to respond to the tremendous growth and demand the railway has experienced - a doubling of passenger journeys over the past 20 years.

Media centre