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Friday 17 Feb 2017

Remarkable progress made to reopen iconic Settle to Carlisle railway next month

Region & Route:

| North West & Central

Remarkable progress has been made by engineers working to reinstate the iconic Settle to Carlisle railway ahead of its planned reopening next month.

Around 500,000 tonnes of earth gave way in February last year after the devastating flooding in Cumbria throughout winter 2015/16. The land slip caused the ground below the railway to slip 2.5 metres below its normal level during the weeks that followed.

Engineers have undertaken a £23million project which involves driving two rows of high-strength piles – steel tubes filled with concrete – into the sloping bedrock of the Eden gorge, north of Armathwaite. This will ensure that even if the land gives way in the future, the railway won’t.

A large number of the piles have been installed and staff have already started working on laying the concrete slab which will provide a stable platform for the track to sit on.

Throughout February 3000 tonnes of concrete is being delivered to site which will fill the steel tubes. In total 42 deliveries will be made to the work site between early February and early March.

Rhiannon Price, project manager for Network Rail said: The project continues to progress well, with more of the important work completed.

“This complex repair job has taken months to plan we are now focused on reopening the line to Carlisle, which is on schedule for 31 March.”

Once the railway is reopened Network Rail plans to carry out earthworks improvements to the foot of the embankment below the line and above the River Eden.

This will include drainage ditches and pipework, rock armour to guard against erosion when flows are high, and finally replanting trees over the entirety of the affected area.

Great care is being taken to ensure ecology is protected, including badger setts and spawning salmon. Natural England will advise on the tree replanting.