Media centre

Monday 1 Feb 2016

Network Rail prepares for Storm Henry’s arrival

Region & Route:

| North West & Central

Network Rail is urging passengers across the north west of England to check before they travel as Storm Henry approaches Britain.

Forecasters are predicting winds to strengthen overnight (Monday) with gusts in excess of 70mph in the Lancashire and Cumbria area.

Network Rail's frontline teams will continue to be on alert in the area and across the country, ready to deal with any damage the storm may cause to the railway.

A spokesperson for Network Rail said: "Additional teams will be on standby to react to any damage caused to the railway by Storm Henry. As always, our advice to passengers is to check before you travel, using National Rail Enquiries for the latest information. With even more rain predicted to fall on already saturated ground, there is the potential for localised flooding, as well as possible damage from high winds which may cause disruption to passengers planning to travel."

As a precaution a 50mph speed restriction is already in place on the Settle to Carlisle line, between Settle and Appleby, and will remain in place until 5am tomorrow (Tuesday). A 50mph speed limit will come into operation on the Cumbrian coast line from 8pm tonight until 5am tomorrow and will also be in place on the West Coast main line between Garstang and Tebay between 8pm and midnight.

The West Coast main line remains closed at Lamington, near Lockerbie, while Network Rail repairs a railway viaduct severely damaged by Storm Frank.

Repair work continues across Cumbria and Lancashire on a number of railway embankments and other infrastructure damaged by December's storms and floods.

At Caldew Junction, north of Carlisle, which was under eight feet of floodwater in early December, engineers are putting rebuilt electrical units for powering signals on stilts to guard against them being destroyed again by floods in future.

For the latest travel information visit www.nationalrail.co.uk.