Cumbrian coast line fully reopens after sink hole repairs: Cumbrian coast line repairs

Monday 8 Jan 2018

Cumbrian coast line fully reopens after sink hole repairs

Region & Route:
| North West & Central

The railway between Whitehaven and Workington on the Cumbrian coast line has reopened after repairs to a sink hole were completed.

Network Rail engineers worked over the weekend to repair and make safe the section of line after the mysterious void appeared last Friday (5 January) at the village of Harrington, following Storm Eleanor.

Phil James, head of operations for Network Rail's London North Western route, said: "The Cumbrian coast line has fully reopened after emergency repairs were completed to fix the sink hole.

"We understand the importance of this line to the regional economy and did all we could to fix the issue and reopen the railway as quickly and safely as possible."

The Harrington sink hole, which was spotted by Network Rail staff working in the area, was around 2ft wide and 4ft deep. Sink holes are rare on the railway. Across Britain there have been 50 in the past 12 years, according to Network Rail records.

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