Media centre

Thursday 17 Feb 2022

Storm Dudley: fallen tree cleared from railway in Keighley

Region & Route:

Eastern

| Eastern: North & East

• Network Rail has removed a 30ft tree from the railway in Keighley in the wake of Storm Dudley
• Repairs to the electric wires were made through the night to get the railway running safely again
• Passengers are asked to check their journey as service resume

Network Rail has removed a 30ft tree from the railway in Keighley after it blew onto the tracks in Storm Dudley – meaning passengers can now travel between Skipton and Shipley.

A team of trained chainsaw operators worked through the night to remove the large conifer and repair the train-powering electric wires so that services could be restored at 11:30am today (17 February).

The tree – which was first discovered at 3pm yesterday (16 February) – stopped Northern trains from running between Skipton and Shipley, with rail replacement buses keeping passengers moving. Passengers are asked to continue to check their journey as services resume.

Matt Rice, North & East Route Director for Network Rail said: “I’d like to thank passengers for bearing with us as we worked to repair the railway as quickly – and as safely – as we could. Storms present real challenges for the railway and, while we do a huge amount of work to reduce these risks, some delays are inevitable.”

A spokesperson for Northern said: “Storms are expected to cause widespread disruption across the rail network over the coming days. As such, there will be a number of planned cancellations. Our focus will remain on getting people to where they need to be safely across our network. Passengers are advised to check as close to departure as possible for the latest information as this will be a changing picture.”

ENDS