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Wednesday 16 Aug 2017

Major recovery operation gets underway to remove derailed freight train at Ely

Region & Route:

Eastern: Anglia

| Eastern

Wagons are being lifted off the track with a rail crane, as a major recovery operation gets underway at the site where a freight train derailed in Ely on Monday 14 August.

A rail crane was brought in overnight on Tuesday (15 August) so that work could begin to lift the 11 derailed wagons from the tracks. Each empty wagon weighs 11 tonnes, with the heaviest container including its contents weighing 106 tonnes and each one will be carefully lifted onto the undamaged track to be towed away. The train and the wagons that stayed on the track were towed away on Tuesday afternoon.

The recovery operation is expected to take a number of days and once complete, nearly ¼ mile of track needs to be replaced. The work is scheduled to complete over the weekend and the line is expected to be open 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 have an army of experts and specialist teams who are working day and night to remove the wagons as quickly as possible. Once they are out of the way we can replace the tracks, carry out the necessary repairs, reopen the line and get passengers on the move again. We expect to be able to reopen the line on Monday. 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