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Monday 22 Jun 2020

Landslip hit rail route will reopen tomorrow after repair work finishes two days early

Region & Route:

Eastern

| Eastern: North & East

Network Rail has announced that passenger services between Scunthorpe and Doncaster will resume tomorrow after repair work following a landslip has completed earlier than planned.

The line has been closed since Thursday to allow vital repairs to take place following a landslip on Friday, 12 June. Initially, the line was able to remain open to a reduced service with Network Rail teams on site monitoring the area. However, as these services had to travel at a significantly reduced speed, and not all services were able to run, Network Rail took the decision to close the railway for seven days to carry out repairs.

The repair work saw steel piles installed to stabilise the embankment.  This work was scheduled to take seven days, however good progress on site has meant that the repairs will complete earlier than planned. This means a full train service will be able to resume on Tuesday, 23 June.

During the closure, there has been a rail replacement service between Doncaster and Scunthorpe to keep those who must travel moving.

Passengers are reminded that they should continue to avoid public transport where possible. Those who do need to travel on public transport should wear face coverings to protect themselves and others, however, some passengers are exempt, including young children, people with hidden disabilities and those with breathing difficulties.

Matt Rice, Route Director for Network Rail’s North and East Route, said: “Closing a portion of the railway is never an easy decision to make, which is why we are delighted that the line between Scunthorpe and Doncaster can reopen earlier than planned.

“We’d like to thank all those who have been impacted by this incident for their patience whilst these vital repairs were carried out.”

Steve Hopkinson, Regional Director at Northern, said: “We are grateful to Network Rail for completing the repair work ahead of schedule and I’m sure our customers will be glad to get the service back to normal.

“Our rail replacement buses have kept people on the move since the line was closed, but we’re looking forward to, once again, operating trains between Scunthorpe and Doncaster.”

A spokesperson for TransPennine Express commented: “We’d like to thank our customers for their patience while the work has been carried out to repair the line between Doncaster and Scunthorpe and also thank Network Rail for their hard work in completing these repairs so quickly. Services on our South route will get back to normal from Tuesday 23 June.”

ENDS