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Wednesday 13 Jan 2010

INVERNESS-PERTH ROUTE REOPENS AFTER A WEEK OF ENDEAVOUR

Region & Route:

Scotland’s Railway: Scotland

Services began operating again on the Inverness-Perth route yesterday morning after a week of extraordinary effort  by railway engineers to remove a derailed freight train in Carrbridge during brutal weather.

Staff from Network Rail and DB Schenker worked around the clock in temperatures as low as minus 21ºC to remove the train. Simply accessing the site was a challenge due to over twelve inches of lying snow in the area.

Two rail cranes were eventually able to access the site along with two road cranes, however, the arctic conditions led to hydraulic fluid freezing and delaying the removal of the train. In addition, some minor damage to tracks also had to be fixed despite the track being covered by a layer of snow and ice. All six containers and wagons were removed over the weekend of 9/10 January, with track work and snow clearance completed on Monday.

A limited passenger service will operate for the rest of this week until signalling equipment damaged during the derailment can be repaired this weekend.

Services between Aberdeen and Inverness were also restored on Tuesday morning, with a full service operating.

David Simpson, Network Rail route director Scotland commented:

“The weather over last month has presented an enormous and relentless challenge to our people across the rail network but the Highlands has seen more snow and lower temperatures than anywhere else in the country and I am full of admiration for the job our people have done across the region.

“The derailment at Carrbridge has been the biggest challenge we have faced over this period and I’m delighted to see the line opening again despite the horrendous conditions. Although this winter may still have more to throw at us, I think our resilience has been demonstrated throughout the last month and I’m proud to say that we’ve still managed to run 85% of scheduled services across Scotland.”

ENDS