Engineers have successfully completed repair works that were in place to fix the recent flooding damages caused to the West Coast Mainline near Carstairs, with the line officially reopening for passenger travels from today.
Barry Milsom, executive director of operations and safety at Avanti West Coast, said:
“We’re pleased the West Coast Mainline has now reopened north of Carlisle following repairs to the tracks and would like to thank our customers for their patience and understanding while Network Rail carried out this urgent work.”
The engineering teams have been working night and day to ensure that the line could be reopened as soon as possible, endeavouring to repair damages from heavy rainfall on the 30th of December, which caused a landslip beneath the track itself. The destabilisation this caused, forced the lines closure to ensure that passenger and staff safety would not be risked.
The undertaken works to resolve this issue has seen hundreds of tonnes worth of loose materials excavated from beneath the line, whilst regrading the slops and installing a further 300 tonnes of new stone to stabilise the embankment.
The affected track has also been re-laid, accompanied by stringent signalling system testing to ensure everything was ready for the line reopening.
Liam Sumpter, Network Rail Scotland route director, said:
“Our engineers have worked as quickly as possible to complete these repairs and reopen the railway.
“This was a very challenging project, with hundreds of tonnes of material having to be removed and significant repairs made to over 40 metres of the railway.
“We appreciate the inconvenience the closure of the line has caused, and we thank everyone for their understanding during these recovery works.”
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