Media centre

Tuesday 29 Dec 2015

Engineering completed and flood water cleared in parts of Yorkshire

Region & Route:

| Eastern

Network Rail engineers have successfully completed planned engineering work at Doncaster and cleared 4ft of flood water from the railway near Leeds.

The line at Kirkstall had been under water for two days following last weekend’s downpours but specialist pumps working round the clock have been able to clear the water and engineers have repaired the damaged track below – meaning services are now running again between Leeds, Skipton and Bradford Foster Square.

While water was being cleared in West Yorkshire, engineers in South Yorkshire were successfully completing planned engineering work to the track around Doncaster station as part of the Railway Upgrade Plan. Selby swing bridge remains on alert due to high volumes of water but is currently operational.

In the North East, work is taking place to rebuild an embankment which has been washed away due to flood water. As a result, buses replace trains between Hexham and Carlisle, with train services able to run between Newcastle and Hexham. Engineering work planned for the King Edward Bridge in Newcastle was also completed on time.

The main north-south routes on the East Coast main line and the West Coast main line remain open.

Mark Tarry, route managing director for Network Rail, said: “Our engineers have been busy this Christmas completing work on our Railway Upgrade Plan which forms part of a £150m investment to create a better and more reliable railway. At the same time an immense clear up effort has been carried out on the flood-hit parts of Yorkshire, the North East and the North West to get as much of the network open for passengers services as possible.”

For the latest information on disruption or changes to train services, passengers are advised to check with their train operator or National Rail Enquiries www.nationalrail.co.uk. The latest flooding information can be found at www.gov.uk/government/organisations/environment-agency.