Network Rail is predicting that passenger services in the Braybrooke area of the Midland Main Line will resume on Thursday (9 November).
Services were suspended last Thursday (2 November), when stormy weather made an already unstable part of the embankment too unsafe to allow train services to continue to allow train services to continue running.
Since then, Network Rail engineers have been working at strengthening and stabilising the affected part of the embankment. They have been installing soil nails and netting, and will then tension the netting to make the affected area stronger.
They have applied grout to hold the nails in place and tests carried out today have shown that it is curing well, meaning that maintenance workers can step up their work to fully reinstate the track.
The repair work, carried out by specialist and maintenance engineers working day and night, and involves 280 soil nails (up to 9m long); 17,100 litres of grout (around 250 cubic metres); 800 tonnes of stone; 750 square metres of netting.
A tamping machine will run over the track tonight, to consolidate the ballast. Engineers will carefully monitor this, in order to guide them in ongoing work tomorrow in readiness for services to resume between Kettering, Market Harborough and Leicester on Thursday.
The area is currently also affected by weekend closures for upgrading and electrifying the line.
Gary Walsh, Route Director for Network Rail's East Midlands route, said: “Engineers have made great progress at Braybrooke and we are confident that trains will be able to run along their usual route from start of service on Thursday.
“I am sorry for the disruption which passengers have experienced in recent days. This site is a complex one and we needed to be sure that the grout and other materials being used to stabilise the embankment were performing as expected before we could give clear information about when trains will start running again.
“Teams will remain on site and we will have monitoring in place for some time yet but, from Thursday, it will be safe for trains to run along their usual route.
“I am grateful for the understanding shown by passengers while we worked through this challenge. Please continue to check your journey before travelling to get the latest information.”
Dave Meredith, Customer Services Director at East Midlands Railway, said: “We would like to thank our customers for their patience whilst this issue is resolved by Network Rail.
“Unfortunately, due to the ongoing repairs, we are required to continue our emergency timetable until Thursday morning. This means diverting our intercity services to and from London. These diversions increase journey times by up to 60 minutes and services will not call at Market Harborough. Services may also depart earlier and arrive at their destinations later than usual.
“All our Connect trains will start/terminate at Wellingborough instead of Kettering and Corby. Our Intercity services will continue to call additionally at Kettering and Corby. Rail replacement buses will operate between Kettering, Market Harborough, and Leicester.
“We have worked closely with our partners at other train operators, and they have agreed our customers can use their EMR ticket on other operators' services to help keep them on the move.
“Customers are advised to please check our website for the latest information before they travel and allow extra time for their journey.”
