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Friday 14 Aug 2015

CUMNOCK DERAILMENT: Recovery works on track for Monday re-opening

Region & Route:

Scotland’s Railway: Scotland

With the 16 derailed wagons and freight locomotive now removed from site, the recovery works at Logan, near Cumnock, are progressing to schedule.

The 130t engine was removed from the derailment site this afternoon, following the successful recovery of the 16 wagons over the course of Thursday.

Engineers have now begun to fully assess the track repairs required for the line to reopen.

Initial investigations have revealed significant track damage and engineers will work around-the-clock over the weekend to repair and replace rails, sleepers and other infrastructure.

A ScotRail Alliance spokesman said: “With extensive damage to the track and other infrastructure to be repaired, our engineers will be working hard throughout the weekend to reopen the line.

“The recovery operation is progressing to plan and we remain confident that we will be able to reopen the line for passengers on Monday, August 17.

“We understand the inconvenience this incident has caused and remain committed to restoring services as quickly as we can.”

Before lifting the engine and wagons, engineers had to first construct a 350m-long haul road, and operating pad, for the 1,000 ton crane required to remove or re-rail the wagons and locomotive.

The derailment occurred on Saturday, August 1, when two freight trains collided while delivering materials to an engineering work-site on the line, which was closed at the time. No-one was injured in the incident.