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De-railed Lancaster-Barrow train lifted back onto tracks by crane as line remains closed

Thursday, 28 March 2024 09:02

By Greg Lambert X @greglam72

A rail-mounted crane arrives to lift train carriages back onto the track after it de-railed last Friday, Image from Network Rail.

A de-railed Lancaster-Barrow train has been lifted back onto the tracks via a crane as repair and investigation works continue and the line remains closed.

The Northern train was re-railed on Wednesday and moved to Ulverston for repairs, after the incident near Grange-over-Sands last Friday morning.

Four passengers and four staff were safely escorted from the train after it derailed.

All lines between Barrow-in-Furness and Lancaster will remain closed whilst repair and investigation work continues.

Disruption is expected until at least the end of the day on Monday April 8.

"The complexity falls around the location," said Phil James, North West route director from Network Rail, speaking during the operation to remove the train.

"We have the bay on one side of the railway and open space on the other side of the railway. So we're very constrained in how we can carry out this operation.

"The best and safest way of doing this was to bring the rail mounted crane in.

The crane set off from Scunthorpe on Sunday, arriving on site on Tuesday. Then the carriages were lifted back onto the track on Wednesday. See image below from Network Rail.

"At the moment we're unable to say how long the works are likely to go for," said Mr James.

"Our priority is to rerail the train, get the train out of the way and start to carry out the investigations and repair work into the earthworks.

"Our priority is to get trains running across this piece of railway as soon as we can."

INFORMATION FOR PASSENGERS

You can use your ticket on the following services at no extra cost:

  • Avanti West Coast between Carlisle and Warrington Bank Quay

  • TransPennine Express between Carlisle and Manchester Airport

Northern services running between Windermere and Manchester Airport, and between Barrow-in-Furness and Workington are not affected by this incident.

Ticket restrictions have been lifted during this disruption.

A limited capacity hourly rail replacement bus service is running between Barrow-in-Furness and Lancaster in both directions.

Please be aware that journey times will be extended by 90 minutes whilst travelling using rail replacement transport.

Customers at Arnside and Silverdale are advised to contact 0800 200 6060 and alternative arrangements will be made.

Stagecoach buses operate on route 6 between Barrow-in-Furness and Ulverston and on route X6 between Barrow-in-Furness, Ulverston and Grange-over-Sands, however customers are advised a flat fare will need to be paid to travel on these services.

You can check your journey using the National Rail Enquiries' real-time Journey Planner.

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