Repairs costing £100k start on heritage railway

A stretch of a heritage railway line has closed for repair work following a landslip.

In February extreme weather caused an embankment to collapse north of Cheltenham near the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway (GWSR) line.

Repairs costing £100,000 are now being carried out on the line between Gotherington and Bishops Cleeve, with trains running to a revised timetable on weekdays until 14 May.

"We are dealing with assets that are well over a century old," said Sarah Clayton, GWSR's infrastructure manager.

The landslip happened on the vacant side of the embankment, away from the track, meaning it has been safe for trains to pass at slow speeds.

Engineers believe the slip was caused by a very hot summer last year followed by heavy rainfall.

"We noticed cracks forming along the top of the embankment in September, so we have been monitoring the area for potential movement since then," Clayton said.

"In January, we suffered prolonged and intense rainfall, which appears to have triggered a sudden failure which happened late in February."

It is not the first time the railway has collapsed. In 2010 a major embankment failure at Gotherington left the track suspended in mid-air.

Engineers have since enforced measures to mitigate future risk, including the installation of remote monitors to alert the railway to small ground movements.

The railway, which was built in the early 1990s and has six stops between Broadway and Cheltenham, has altered services while work takes place.

It said services operating during the week will run to a revised timetable between Broadway and Winchcombe with stops at Toddington and, for some trains, also at Hayles Abbey Halt.

Weekend services will continue to Cheltenham Racecourse as normal, running at five miles per hour past the affected section.

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