1 May 2012

Two railway landslides in the UK

Posted by Dave Petley

The UK has just suffered from its wettest April in 90 years, with much of the rainfall falling in the last few days.  The result has been a number of landslides around the country, including two on railway lines (see here for previous examples of landslides on railway lines):

1. Train derailed at the Clarborough Tunnel in Nottinghamshire

The more serious incident occurred at the entrance to the Clarborough Tunnel near to Retford in Nottinghamshire, when a train hit debris from a small landslide and was derailed (image from ITN News):

Network Rail (the track operator) tweeted an image of the landslide:

Two people suffered minor injuries in the derailment.

2.  Landslide at Slochd in Scotland

Meanwhile on Thursday there was a landslide on the line between Inverness and Aviemore, again caused by heavy rainfall.  On this occasion this slip was on a slope below the tracks.  ScotRail, the track operator, tweeted an image of the landslide:

The line should reopen later today.