Ecclesbourne Valley Railway has revealed that services into Duffield should resume on Saturday the 10th of June (subject to circumstances) after a landslip in a cutting north of Duffield in April has led the line to close because of ongoing movement.
The heritage railway is currently operating services as advertised, however, trains are top and-tailed and end either short of Duffield or at Shottle.
Investigations into the causes of the landslip are still underway. However, evidence has been found of large amounts of water entering the clay on the cuttings side, which led to the land becoming soft and finally giving way.
The Peak District-based heritage railway formed a plan which would initially see the toe of the slip dug out before the installation of interlocking concrete blocks to hold back the slope.
Unfortunately, due to the slip becoming so wet and unstable it was impossible to rebuild the original foot of the cutting, the concrete blocks which held back the clay have had to be supported with extra bags of stone which were located too close to the rails in order for trains to run safely.
Ongoing monitoring is taking place at the site of the land-slip to maintain whether the cutting has stabilised adequately and once this is ascertained, the railway will be able to move the bags, allowing a full service to return in June.
The railway will need to impose a speed restriction whilst work takes place in order to operate services.
The heritage railway has planned that if the bank were to become unstable that it would divert tracks for around 120 yards around the slip onto the down-side which is possible due to the section being double track width. It is hoped that this is not necessary as it will incur much more work and expense and would require:
- Removal of current tracks
- Ground dug
- New foundations and up-side drainage laid
The down-side features no ballast as it has not carried track since being built more than 150 years ago. The railway has also confirmed that it would relay the rails using concrete sleepers, as they will last more efficiently into the future.
Due to the expense of such work, the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway will open an appeal fund shortly.
Whilst the blockade has been in action, inspections have taken place regarding the permanent way, which has led to a decision to replace approximately 150 sleepers between Shottle and Duffield. It is hoped that most of the replacement work will take place before the railway reopens, however, some will sleepers will need to be replaced in June.
Further issues have also arisen for the Derbyshire railway in the form of antisocial behavior and vandalism at Duffield station with efforts made to protect the site. Once services resume, it is expected to solve the issue alongside some anti-trespass measures which have been put in place.
Funding for the emergency work was made available thanks to the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway Association. The railway is also grateful to Slinter Mining of Cromford, who supplied the concrete blocks, and Whitehouse Construction, who carried out work on the site at short notice.
To find out more about Ecclesbourne Valley Railway, please visit here.
