Monday, January 8, 2024
Due to the “serious and widespread” impact of Storm Henk, landslides blocked many rail lines across the UK, last week. The storm wreaked havoc on the infrastructure.
Storm Henk made landfall last Tuesday (2 January) and brought heavy rainfall.
It caused multiple incidents of flooding and landslides across large parts of the country’s railway network.
Severe winds also led to trees on the line damaging or delaying trains in multiple locations.
South Western Railway chief operating officer Stuart Meek said that the impact of Storm Henk was “serious and widespread”.
He apologised for the disruption that the bad weather had caused to customers’ journeys.
The aftermath of the storm continued to cause disruption later in the week as more rain fell on already wet and waterlogged ground, with 75mm recorded in Devon over a 24-hour period.
South Western Railway’s network was particularly badly affected, with a landslide between Winchester and Micheldever blocking all railway lines last Thursday (4 January).
Another landslide near Crewkerne in south Somerset blocked all railway lines between Yeovil Junction and Exeter on Friday (5 January).
Services on both lines have now resumed. Emergency repairs were recently needed at Crewkerne tunnel due to a landslide in early December.
Most of South Western Railway’s services were back to normal by last Friday as water levels dropped across the network.
Two landslides caused passenger disruption in the South East on Friday.
One landslide blocked several lines by Maidstone East station in Kent and another landslide hit the line at Robertsbridge in East Sussex.
As the storm moved further north it also brought travel disruption to parts of the southern Midlands.
It also triggered a landslide at Arlesey on the railway line between Stevenage and Peterborough last Friday.
Rail line operator LNER said that train services would be delayed by up to 30 minutes or revised, and that the disruption was expected to last until the end of Friday.
Network Rail has said that extreme weather across Britain puts the railway at a higher risk of landslides.
Several properties in Shropshire were also affected by a landslide last week, which is believed to have been triggered by the prolonged heavy and persistent rainfall caused by Storm Henk.
The landslide last Tuesday in Bridgnorth brought down around four tonnes of material from an embankment at the rear of several properties.
A crew from Bridgnorth Fire Station carried out an initial assessment of the landslide, while a drone team gathered further information on the situation in the area from an aerial view.
Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service station manager Craig Jackson said that six properties were advised to evacuate the area following the landslide.
It is due to concerns that a large tree near the landslide site might be brought down in further bad weather.
“Shropshire Council Emergency Planning Officer was contacted that evening for support and also information sharing to support residents,” Jackson added.
Tags: rail network, South Western Railway, storm, UK
Wednesday, May 1, 2024
Wednesday, May 1, 2024
