23.11.17
Battered stretch of West Coast main line gets £4m repairs after landslide
Network Rail have completed £4m worth of work to stabilise embankments after a stretch of line between Watford and King’s Langley suffered from a major landslide last year.
Services on the West Coast main line into Euston will benefit from over 1km of rock netting installed over a 14-month period.
Although the area already had more than 500 rock anchors installed, the area still experienced a serious landslip in September last year.
The incident caused a train to derail and then created subsequent damage when it was clipped by a train travelling in the opposite direction – leaving both damaged.
“Passengers will have more reliable journeys through the Watford area thanks to this investment,” commented Gavin Evans, scheme project manager at NR.
He explained that the biggest challenge for the project had been to work around the services while they were still operational without causing damage or slowing down construction.
Evans said: “A large proportion of the work took overnight and at weekends and the work we have done will protect the cutting for more than 60 years.”
In addition, Steve Helfet, London Midland’s head of West Coast services, spoke positively about the way the project had gone.
He commented: “This is a great example of one railway working together to make much needed repairs and improvements.
“The work was done with minimal impact to our customers on one of the busiest stretches of railway in Europe.”
Services on the line will soon change operator, with a joint venture from Abellio, East Japan Railway Company and Mitsui set to take over from Govia next month.
The new TOC will be expecting a fresh start from West Coast main line services, with nearly £1bn of investment to be made in trains and infrastructure over the next nine years.
Last month, the new operator announced that the service would be renamed London Northwestern, as a tribute to the historic London and Northwestern Railway – once the largest in Britain.
Top image: Network Rail
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