Monday 8 Jul 2013
Rail line at Hatfield & Stainforth reopens
- Region & Route:
Passenger and freight trains are once again running through Hatfield & Stainforth. The railway was forced to close after a spoil heap slip at Hatfield Colliery and engineers have relocated approximately one million cubic metres of material in order to restore services.
The line reopened at 5am today, Monday 8 July. Phil Verster, route managing director for Network Rail, said: “The reopening of this line is a real cause for celebration. I thank passengers and our freight customers for their patience during this very difficult time.
“Engineers on site have worked tirelessly to complete the repair. Thanks are also due to the planning and support teams throughout the rail industry who have successfully delivered such a complex project.”
Northern Rail is running an hourly service between Doncaster and Goole, and Doncaster and Scunthorpe. Rail replacement buses will continue to run to support the Northern train services until Monday 29 July; however, these buses will be retimed so passengers are advised to check the interim timetables.
First TransPennine Express is operating the full timetable which was in place before the colliery landslip. Services are running between Cleethorpes and Doncaster/Sheffield/Manchester Airport and between Hull/Brough/Selby and Leeds/Manchester.
A spokesperson for Northern Rail and First TransPennine Express added: “The earlier than anticipated restoration of the line through Hatfield and Stainforth is great news for rail passengers in the region. The scale and complexity of the engineering project are unprecedented and the resumption of passenger services is credit to the professionalism and expertise of Network Rail. As a rail industry we have worked hard to make sure that customers have had all the correct information and the disruption has been minimised.
"We would like to thank customers for their patience and understanding and we will continue to work tirelessly to ensure a full and normal service is restored as soon as possible. Detailed journey information is available by www.nationalrail.co.uk"
Notes to editors
Northern Rail has 182 drivers who potentially operate the route – FTPE has 15, therefore the staged introduction of Northern services is to allow route learning of drivers whose route knowledge has lapsed during the period of disruption.
Work on site at Hatfield Colliery is not complete with engineers likely to remain on site until the end of the year. Their work has been meticulously planned to allow safe running of trains while it is completed. The spoil heaps continue to be monitored as a precaution.
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