Heritage railway to progress with landslip repairs

The Severn Valley Railway can move ahead with repairs for the landslip it suffered in January, after their insurers settled their claim in respect to the incident.

About 30m (32yds) of the railway's track and track bed at the Mor Brook bridge was damaged in the slip on 30 January.

The heritage railway, which runs from Kidderminster in Worcestershire to Bridgnorth in Shropshire, said insurers had now agreed to pay for the full reinstatement of the bridge's wing wall and stone arch, as well as the embankment itself.

Severn Valley Railway said the final costs would be significantly more than half a million pounds.

Managing director of the heritage railway, Jonathan 'Gus' Dunster, said: "We are delighted with this decision by our insurers, which means we can now move ahead with fixing things.

"Nevertheless, the Severn Valley Railway is still going to be responsible for funding a substantial excess as part of the settlement.

"We are still in negotiation with the insurers about the exact amount, but thanks to the generous donations that supporters have made to the SVR Resilience Fund and the SVR Charitable Trust since the landslip, we are confident that we will be able to cover this."

Mr Dunster said the insurer's acceptance of the claim meant the railway would not have to launch a full-scale appeal for the landslip repairs, which would have meant further delays before things could be put things right.

In conjunction with its insurers, the railway has appointed civil engineering contractors CML to carry out all the works required at Mor Brook to reinstate the line.

The railway's infrastructure management and permanent way teams will be working with CML to provide logistical support and carry out work related to the track.

SVR head of infrastructure Chris Bond said CML would carry out essential civil engineering design work first, with the railway's permanent team removing track in preparation for the work over the next three to four weeks.

"Subject to statutory approvals from the Environment Agency and National Grid, we hope to start the main contract works within six to eight weeks," Mr Bond said.

"Timescales are still subject to the production of a final programme of works, and we will provide an update on this in due course.

"Clearly, at this stage it is impossible to pin down a finish date. This will depend on many variables, such as the weather, procurement of materials and gaining statutory approvals.

"It is unlikely to be completed before the middle of the summer and it could be later, depending on these variables."

The railway is currently operating along the 12-mile stretch of the line between Kidderminster and Hampton Loade.

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