East Grinstead line reopens after major landslip repairs

EAST Grinstead regained its link to the rest of the rail network on March 30 when the busy commuter line reopened after a six-week closure for landslip repairs.

The line between Lingfield and East Grinstead was closed on February 12 when an embankment near Cookspond Viaduct in Dormansland, near Lingfield, began to slide.

Five further sites also suffered landslips on the route as a result of the extremely wet winter weather.

Three slips took place on the same stretch of embankment, which is constructed of Wealden clay and poorly repaired with ash waste from steam locomotives at various times in the past.

Backfilled

Repairs included building a wall of sheet piles sunk 13m into the ground and backfilled with ballast. Two other landslips took place in a cutting, where the sides were built too steeply to withstand the extreme weather. In those locations the slope has been regraded to make it less steep.

Over recent months, Network Rail has been battling to keep numerous lines across southern England open after heavy rain and storms caused Victorian-built clay embankments to give way.

Repairs costing millions of pounds have been necessary at numerous locations in Surrey, Sussex and Kent (RM April).

NETWORK RAIL This view from a drone gives some sense of the massive scale of the repairs required before the East Grinstead line could reopen. It shows Freightliner’s magenta Class 66 No. 66587 AS ONE, WE CAN in charge of a spoil train on the damaged embankment in March.