OREANDA-NEWS. Trains began travelling through the area at normal speed today (Monday 21 December) after speed restrictions were lifted just two weeks after the railway was under eight feet of floodwater.

Network Rail’s orange army has worked round-the-clock since the key route connecting England with Scotland was completely submerged as Storm Desmond battered the region over the weekend of 5 and 6 December.

Just two days after the railway was flooded temporary measure were put in place to allow a small number of trains to run through the area after the orange army removed large amounts of debris and mud from the railway and emergency repairs were made to the track and infrastructure.

Over the past two weeks engineers have built and fitted six new safety-critical electrical cabinets, installed four km of signalling cable and undertaken extensive signal testing and commissioning so the 20mph speed can be removed and a full service can run once more.

Martin Frobisher of Network Rail said: “The West Coast main line fully reopening is great news for passengers travelling on this key route. The orange army has worked tirelessly to reopen the section north of Carlisle as quickly as possible which was under eight feet of floodwater two weeks ago.

“Work has taken place round-the-clock to make repairs and clear the debris. Large amounts of signalling equipment, including these safety-critical electrical cabinets, had to be replaced and I would like to thank passengers for their patience while the work was completed.”.

Network Rail’s orange army will continue to be on standby over the Christmas period to tackle any further impact any bad weather may have on the network.

About Network Rail

Network Rail owns, manages and develops Britain’s railway – the 20,000 miles of track, 40,000 bridges and viaducts, and the thousands of signals, level crossings and stations (the largest of which we also run). In partnership with train operators we help people take more than 1.6bn journeys by rail every year - double the number of 1996 - and move hundreds of millions of tonnes of freight, saving almost 8m lorry journeys. We’re investing ?38bn in the railway by 2019 to deliver more frequent, more reliable, safer services and brighter and better stations.