A railway cutting that was edging towards the Settle – Carlisle railway line has been strengthened thanks to a £1.2m investment from Network Rail.

The upgrade near Kirby Stephen is being delivered as part of the Great North Rail Project.

It will help keep the line between Leeds, Settle and Carlisle safe and reliable for passenger and freight trains.

To help the slope from sliding, engineers dug out waterlogged soil and laid 11,500 tonnes of rock.

A new drainage system was also installed to better manage water levels following heavy rain.

The work at Fothergill was completed by Network Rail’s Cumbrian-based contractor, Story Contracting.

The site is next to the Birkett Tunnel and trains continued to run, without disruption to passengers, throughout.

What did the officials say?

Olivia Boland, scheme project manager at Network Rail said:

 “Our routine safety inspections to improve the performance of rail services across the North of England is a key part of our Putting Passengers First programme.

“This is why we’ve invested £1.2m on earthwork strengthening work at Fothergill on the Settle-Carlisle line to help keep passenger and freight services running reliably between Leeds and Carlisle.”

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