Media centre

Tuesday 9 Feb 2016

Settle-Carlisle line shut after further ground movement at landslip site

Region & Route:

| North West & Central

The Settle-Carlisle line was closed to passenger and freight trains today for safety reasons after Network Rail’s ground measurements detected further movement of a railway embankment at Eden Brow.

Martin Frobisher, Network Rail’s route managing director, said: “The safety of the railway is always our top priority.

“While we recognise the impact that closing this important route will have on many people, we need to close this railway line in order to undertake extensive repairs.

“Since movement of the embankment was first detected by aerial monitoring, we have had a team of experts on site to monitor conditions and to measure ground movement. This team measured significant movement of the embankment overnight and we have needed to close the line.

“Major repairs are needed and the line is likely to be shut for many weeks while these take place.”

Earlier this month a large section embankment below the two-track railway at Eden Brow slipped into the River Eden, running below.

Trains had been allowed to run through the area at speeds of 5mph on one of the two tracks while engineers and geotechnical experts designed a permanent repair.

Network Rail’s orange army is now being mobilised to tackle this problem as quickly as possible. 

Northern Rail will be operating train services between Leeds and Appleby and a replacement bus service between Appleby and Carlisle. Northern will continue to work with Network Rail to ensure its customers are kept on the move, up to date with the latest information and that disruption is kept to a minimum.

 

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