Wednesday 13 Aug 2003
NOTICE TO THE RESIDENTS OF CULGAITH
- Region & Route:
As part of its commitment to running a safe and reliable railway, Network Rail is undertaking a project to re-grade a cutting slope along the Settle to Carlisle line at Culgaith, Cumbria.
The section of As the line between the level crossing at Culgaith and Crowdundle Viaduct lies at the bottom of a steep cutting, which following investigations was seen to be it isat risk from earth being washed onto the tracks during heavy rainfall. A detailed survey has revealed that there is evidence of continual natural erosion of the cutting, which could eventually lead to the line being blocked by soil. Although there is no immediate danger, to avoid any such incidents occurring, the plan is to re-grade the railway cutting so that the sides are not so steep and therefore are less susceptible to landslips. The new cutting slopes have also been carefully designed to allow adequate drainage of rainfall preventing any flooding of the tracks.
Network Rail is currently in discussions with the Environment Agency to establish the most environmentally suitable method of dealing with the excavated earth.
In the meantime however, while negotiations are continuing, Network Rail would like to advise the residents that there will be increased vehicle movements while this earth is taken to a local tip. The vehicle movements will be between 9am and 6pm each day – Monday to Friday.
It is hoped that the discussions with the Environment Agency will ensure that this activity will only be for a few days.
All the work will be carried out during the **, ** to **. There will be ** disruption to services during the work.
Network Rail Project Manager, Ian Jonesspokesman said: “Network Rail would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused. This scheme is part of an estimated £7m being spent on various projects over the past two years on the Settle to Carlisle line, which are all being carried out to ensure the continual safety of such a historic route.”
Residents with any queries should contact the Network Rail National Helpline on 08547 11 41 41.
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.
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