Railway to be closed for six weeks to prevent tonnes of earth falling into river

Network Rail is warning passengers of potential disruption between Sheffield and Manchester Piccadilly of rail closures in July and August due to the emergency railway repair work. Engineers have been working around the clock in Hague Bar, New Mills, to stabilise the earth that supports the railway.

It said in order to carry out the work safely and quickly, the railway needs to be closed between July 6 until August 25.

The closure means there will be some changes to services in the area, with a bus replacement running between New Mills Central and Chinley station. If the work is not carried out, there is a risk of 50,000 tonnes of earth falling from the railway into the River Goyt, Network Rail said.

Workers on site will be drilling foundations into the earth and building a wall between the railway and the river to stop the movement of the ground.

Vitesh Solanki, Network Rail’s scheme project manager, said: “I’d advise passengers to check National Rail enquiries for travel advice in July and August for services between Manchester Piccadilly and Sheffield.

“I’m sorry for the disruption the rail closure will cause passengers. The closure is the safest and quickest way for us to carry out the work so we can reopen the line fully to passengers as soon as possible.”

Network Rail is working with Northern to reduce disruption to passengers as much as possible.

A spokesperson for Northern said: “We’d like to thank our customers for their patience while this important, safety-critical work is carried out by Network Rail. We’ll do everything we can to make sure customers can still get where they want to be – but they should allow more time for their journeys.”

The work means there will be some changes in services from Manchester to New Mills Central via Bredbury:

From Monday to Saturday there will be an hourly train service between Manchester Piccadilly and Marple. A bus service will run between Marple and Chinley.

On Sundays, an hourly bus service will run between Manchester Piccadilly, Bredbury, Marple and Chinley.

Services between Chinley and Manchester Piccadilly continue to divert via Hazel Grove and Stockport, with a bus service between Chinley and Marple.

Passengers are advised to check www.nationalrail.co.uk before they travel.