ROUND-THE-CLOCK work which saw engineers shore up a railway bank for 72 hours following a landslide finally came to an end - having caused travel chaos for commuters.
Transport bosses closed the Hallam Line, which connects Leeds to Sheffield, at about 7am last Wednesday morning.
The line - which includes stop-offs at Darton, Barnsley Interchange, Wombwell and Elsecar - did not reopen until the first services on Saturday morning.
The ‘slow-moving’ landslip was at a cutting near Woolley Tunnel, north of Darton, but it had not reached the track.
However, bosses were left with no choice but to close the line completely to enable machinery to use the track to remove about 1,000 tonnes of spoil and shore up the bank.
Speed restrictions were enforced on trains from Saturday morning to enable monitoring.
George Drum, Network Rail’s infrastructure director, said: “Our teams worked tirelessly since the landslip was reported to make the site safe and get passengers moving again as quickly as possible.
“Safety is always our first priority and while we reopened the line for the start of services on Saturday, we continued to monitor the earthworks closely over the weekend.
“We’re sorry to anyone whose journey has been affected and grateful to passengers for their patience while the essential work was carried out.”
A landslip on the railway is generally defined as when soil, rocks and earth fall on to and either wholly or partially block the ‘cess’, which is the space next to the offside running line.
A Network Rail spokesperson said the complexities involved - including getting machinery to the location and removing the spoil and reinstating it with new ballast - is time-consuming.
“Before trains can run on the line again after a landslip, we’ll remove any debris and check that the infrastructure is safe and working.
“There are ongoing concerns, even after an initial landslip.
“Once a landslip has started to move, the slope is permanently weakened.
“It means it’s much more likely that there will be further landslips.
“Some of the slopes - or cuttings, as they’re also known - on either side of our tracks need to be strengthened by improving drainage or adding stronger materials to the slope itself, such as steel rods or soil nails.
“This work to stabilise the earth can take time.”
