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Friday 12 Aug 2016

Fort William-Mallaig landslide recovery update

Region & Route:

Scotland’s Railway: Scotland

The rail line between Fort William and Mallaig will remain closed over the weekend as engineers work to repair damage caused by a landslip near Lochailort.

Over 100 tonnes of stone and mud was deposited across 70m of the track after the mountainside above the railway gave way on Thursday evening.

Trains between Glasgow Queen Street and Mallaig are terminating at/starting from Fort William while engineers work to divert floodwater away from the line, clear the debris and repair damage to the infrastructure beneath.

A replacement bus service is in operation between Fort William and Mallaig to keep passengers on the move.

A ScotRail Alliance spokesman said: “Our team has been on site since Thursday assessing the damage and making repairs. We are working to get the line open as soon as possible, but significant repairs will be needed to fix the damage caused to both the railway and slope above.

“We are grateful to customers for their patience during the disruption. Buses are running in place of trains between Fort William and Mallaig to help keep people on the move. However, roads are also affected by the landslip and divisionary routes may be used, meaning extended journey times. We apologise to customers who are affected by this disruption.”

Engineers expect to take around 48-hours to clear material from the line, replace washed away ballast beneath the track and then carry out work to stabilise the slope above the line to minimise future landslip risks.

Customers affected by this issue can use ScotRail’s Delay Repay compensation scheme, which kicks in for services that are delayed for 30 minutes or longer. Full details on this can be found at scotrail.co.uk/delay-repay