A landslip at the Falls of Cruachan has required a Network Rail engineering team to clear debris and re-connect the communities, in collaboration with BEAR Scotland and Transport Scotland.
This landslip on Monday December 19th has caused major blockages to the railway line to Oban and A85 trunk road, east of the Falls of Cruachan, seeing around 100 tonnes of debris slip 80m down Ben Cruachan’s slopes.
The severity of this project has required specialist engineers to assess the damages and establish the plans to fully reopen the affected road imminently. Due to the slope above the track being saturated with water, there are concerns that it could be unstable, leading to a very complex and time-consuming process of repairs.
Liam Sumpter, Network Rail Scotland Route Director, said:
“A significant amount of debris fell onto the railway and road and our specialist teams have been working with BEAR Scotland and Transport Scotland to allow the A85 to partially reopen as quickly as possible.
“It will be several days before we can fully assess the extent of the damage to the railway and confirm timescales for making repairs to our infrastructure.
“We understand the difficulties this incident will cause for our customers and local residents and are working hard to put plans in place to reopen the line as soon as we can.”
A high volume of water flowing through the embankment from outside the railway boundary is believed to have caused this hazardous landslip, coming as a result of an abrupt rise in temperatures following the prolonged freezing conditions last week.
David Simpson, Service Delivery Director at ScotRail, said:
“We are sorry to customers who have experienced disruption to their journey as a result of this incident and we are working with our colleagues at Network Rail Scotland to get services back into operation as soon as possible.
“We are currently unable to run services between Crianlarich and Oban, and due to the road also being closed, we have a very limited replacement bus service in operation.
“Our advice to customers is not to travel, as we cannot guarantee you will be able to complete your journey.”
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