Media centre

Friday 6 Dec 2013

Storm clean-up underway on railway in north Wales

Region & Route:

| Wales & Western: Wales & Borders

| Wales & Western

Network Rail engineers have begun the huge task of repairing railway lines in north Wales damaged by Thursday’s storm surge.

More than 200m of the sea wall has collapsed onto the railway at Mostyn, forcing the closure of the line between Chester and Rhyl. Three heavy excavators have been drafted in and are being used to clear around 1000 tonnes of fallen sea wall from the railway. Once this has been cleared, work will begin to repair the sea wall, check the track for damage, replace more than 150 tonnes of ballast which has been washed away by the sea and repair signalling and other electrical equipment damaged by flood waters. It is estimated this work will be complete ready for services to resume on Tuesday, although further significant work will be required to the sea wall and a speed restriction through the area will be in place once the line reopens.

The line between Llandudno Junction and Llanrwst has also been significantly affected by the tidal surge which made its way up the River Conwy, with trains currently unable to operate between those stations owing to major flood damage. Engineers are on site assessing the extent of the damage and a plan will be formulated over the weekend to enable repair work to start once the work at Mostyn is complete. The current estimate is that the railway is unlikely to reopen before Thursday or Friday next week.

Mark Langman, Network Rail Wales route managing director, said: “The storm surge has caused significant damage to the railway in north Wales. We are doing everything we can to get passengers on the move again, but the scale of the work needed means it is likely to be several days before train services resume through the affected areas.

“Anyone who has seen photos of the damage will understand that there is considerable work required, but I can assure them our people will be working round-the-clock to reopen the railway as quickly as possible. I’d like to thank the train operators and their passengers for the patience and understanding being shown while we get the railway back up and running.”

For the latest information on services, including updated estimates on the resumption of train services, passengers are advised to check with their train operator or National Rail Enquiries by phone, online or on twitter.

www.arrivatrainswales.co.uk
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www.nationalrail.co.uk