Media centre

Friday 18 Aug 2017

Derailed wagons cleared from the line at Ely as engineers begin to replace the tracks

Region & Route:

Eastern: Anglia

| Eastern

Damaged track is being taken away today from the site at Ely where a freight train derailed on Monday as engineers start extensive repair work to the damaged line. Wagons have been lifted off the track with a rail crane as part of a major recovery operation which was completed yesterday.

A rail crane was brought in overnight on Tuesday (15 August) to lift the 11 derailed wagons from the tracks. Each wagon was lifted onto the undamaged track and towed away yesterday afternoon.

Work has started today to remove the broken rails ready for replacement tracks to be installed over a ¼ mile stretch. The work is scheduled to complete over the weekend and the line is due to open again on Monday. In the meantime, the line will remain closed and passengers are urged to check before they travel.

Simon Ancona, Network Rail’s chief operating officer for Anglia, said: “We’ve made excellent progress and have moved all the wagons from the track. We’re now starting extensive repair work to replace the damaged track over a quarter of a mile stretch. Our engineers are working tirelessly to complete this so we can reopen the line on Monday as planned so passengers will be on the move once again. I’d like to thank passengers for their continued patience.”

The incident affects CrossCountry, East Midlands Trains and Greater Anglia passengers. Passengers are advised to check how their journey may be affected with their train operator, or nationalrail.co.uk