Millions invested to protect North West rail routes this winter

Monday 21 Sep 2026

Millions invested to protect North West rail routes this winter

Region & Route:: North West & Central; | North West & Central: North West

Tens of millions of pounds has been invested to protect passenger journeys on key North West rail routes this Winter.

In the last year Network Rail has completed preventative projects stretching from the Peak District to Cumbria to strengthen railway embankments and cuttings.

They’ve seen railway drainage, rock netting, land regrading and strengthening systems known as soil nails and rock anchors installed to prevent the earth beside railway lines from moving.

In the North West Network Rail has invested £41million on major earthworks schemes:

Three of the biggest are:

Drainage and earth stabilising at Shale Cutting on the Settle to Carlisle route (£11.5m)*
Embankment upgrades between New Mills and Hague Bar in Derbyshire (£9.5m)**
Rock netting and anchors at Shap on the West Coast Main Line in Cumbria (£2m)***

These have been carried out ahead of the winter – which forecasters predict could be especially stormy due to global weather patterns being impacted by climate phenomenon El Nino****.

Rob Stephens, Network Rail North West route engineering director, said: “We’re no stranger to storms in the North West – especially in the winter – and these multi-million-pound projects have been prioritised to prevent disruption for passengers on some of our most exposed and remote sections of railway.

“Alongside this our teams right across the network have also been out clearing drains, cutting back overgrown trees and thoroughly checking our infrastructure in recent months to pre-empt and prevent problems before they happen. By doing so we’re best prepared for weather extremes - which are becoming more frequent and ferocious – so we can react and recover quickly to keep passengers and freight moving safely.”

For more information on how Network Rail is reacting to climate change you can visit: https://www.networkrail.co.uk/sustainability/climate-change/climate-change-adaptation/

Notes to Editors

*At Shale Cutting on the Settle to Carlisle railway, Network Rail completed a major programme of earthworks stabilisation and drainage improvements. The scheme used soil nails and rock anchors to strengthen the cutting and delivered 503 metres of new drainage to improve the management of water around the railway. Following completion, the surrounding land was carefully reinstated, including reseeding, dry-stone wall restoration, and new wildlife habitats. The work will help make this picturesque section of railway more resilient during periods of heavy and prolonged rainfall.

**Between New Mills and Hague Bar, Network Rail completed accelerated earthworks to stabilise a high-risk section of railway embankment and improve the management of water around the railway. By strengthening the embankment and addressing the impact of water on the earthwork, these improvements will help make this section of railway more resilient to future periods of heavy and prolonged rainfall. Further surveys and hydraulic modelling are now being progressed in the surrounding area to better understand wider drainage interactions and inform the development of a long-term solution.

***At Shap Thorn Cutting in Cumbria, Network Rail delivered earthworks on the West Coast Main Line in January 2026. Teams cleared vegetation, removed loose material from the cutting and installed anchors and rockfall netting at targeted locations. The work strengthens the railway's defences against loose rock and slope material reaching the tracks, helping to make this important route better prepared for challenging weather.

****El Niño is a natural climate pattern defined by the warming of sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. In 2026 it’s expected to be the strongest on record. In the UK, an El Niño event increases the likelihood of warmer, wetter, and stormier conditions. A severe or "supersized" El Niño can trigger heavy rainfall, severe autumn and winter storms, and an elevated risk of flooding. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/impacts-of-el-nino-on-the-uk/impacts-of-el-nino-on-the-uk

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About Network Rail

We own, operate and develop Britain's railway infrastructure; that's 20,000 miles of track, 30,000 bridges, tunnels and viaducts and the thousands of signals, level crossings and stations. We run 20 of the UK's largest stations while all the others, over 2,500, are run by the country's train operating companies.

Usually, there are almost five million journeys made in the UK and over 600 freight trains run on the network. People depend on Britain's railway for their daily commute, to visit friends and loved ones and to get them home safe every day. Our role is to deliver a safe and reliable railway, so we carefully manage and deliver thousands of projects every year that form part of the multi-billion pound Railway Upgrade Plan, to grow and expand the nation's railway network to respond to the tremendous growth and demand the railway has experienced - a doubling of passenger journeys over the past 20 years.