New safety move to prevent ice forming in rail tunnel

RAILWAY BOSSES have announced plans to install safety measures in the longest tunnel on the Settle to Carlisle line to avoid a repeat of a derailment in which a 70mph passenger train hit a large block of ice in another Yorkshire tunnel.

Network Rail has applied to North Yorkshire County Council for permission to install ice prevention covers over three shafts along Blea Moor Tunnel, near Ribblehead viaduct in the Yorkshire Dales.

The 1.5-mile tunnel, which took almost five years to build before being completed in 1875, passes some 500 feet below the moor after which it was named and historians have claimed it was used to test steam locomotives.

It was built with the aid of seven huge construction shafts sunk from the moor, permitting 16 gangs of workers to be used during construction, three of which remain for ventilation.

However, Network Rail said solid covers are needed for the shafts to prevent the rainwater pouring down, leading to ice forming on the inside of the tunnels, which has caused train derailments.

In 2010, a TransPennine Express from Manchester Airport to York with 45 passengers hit a block of ice in Summit Tunnel, Calderdale, but it remained upright, bouncing along the wall before coming to a stop.

After the incident the Railway Accident Investigation Branch said it was aware of a number of incidents involving ice in tunnels and reviewed Network Rail’s arrangements for cutting risks over ice-related hazards in tunnels.