Corbridge landslide: Rail services to resume after track damage
Rail services between Tyneside and Cumbria are to resume after more than 35,000 tonnes of debris was cleared from a landslip-damaged track.
The Newcastle to Carlisle line has been blocked since 7 January after flooding resulted in landslips near Corbridge. Passengers have faced lengthy bus journeys between Prudhoe and Hexham while repair work has been going on. But Network Rail said services would return to normal from 8 February after a "challenging" engineering operation. Passenger compensation Rob McIntosh, route managing director at Network Rail, said: "I would firstly like to apologise to passengers [for] the disruption this has caused and thank them for their patience during the recent weeks. "I would also like to thank the community living near the site of the slip for their ongoing patience and understanding with what has been a significant rebuilding project which is set to carry on for many weeks. "The unprecedented weather which led to the landslip, and which has continued throughout the clear-up, presented us with a series of difficult engineering challenges, but I am pleased to confirm that the work has gone to plan and that passenger services will resume from Monday." Alex Hynes, managing director for Northern Rail, added: "We are delighted to see our train services resuming on the line from Monday. Our customers have been extremely patient while Network Rail worked on this challenging project. "We will be offering compensation to customers affected."