Work is going to get underway on the final phase of work at Slochd, between Perth and Inverness on the Highland Mainline.

The project will be ongoing until November and will help protect from landslips and rockfall in the area.

The work is a £4.8 million investment in the infrastructure which will see the installation of a new drainage system and earth bunds, as well as concrete ditches.

Mark Wilson, Network Rail‘s project manager for the work at Slochd, said, “The unpredictable nature of the Scottish weather means that storms or flooding can happen at any time of the year. Milder and wetter weather means that drainage in some areas is no longer fit for purpose and can get overwhelmed. We are proactively replacing and increasing the capacity of drains and culverts to manage the larger volumes of water coming onto the railway from adjacent land on a more frequent basis.

“Work at Slochd will address a flooding issue which has caused the line to be closed twice in the last twelve months; once due to snow melt and the other due to an August storm. It will also ensure that the surrounding drainage and embankments are future-proofed to protect the railway from the impact of increasingly unpredictable weather.”

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