Fears over Severn Valley Railway landslide

5:44pm Wednesday 25th July 2007

Comments (0)   Have your say »

PART of the Severn Valley Railway is facing the prospect of being engulfed by tons of rock, mud and debris as a hillside above the railway became unstable.

The ground has become saturated after weeks of rain and trees are acting as a buffer preventing the hillside from falling onto the railway.

Six bungalows have been evacuated, Northwood Lane has been closed to all traffic, and railway staff and pedestrians instructed to stay well clear, as geotechnical experts investigated the new slip, which is far bigger than any suffered in June.

SVR traffic manager Dewi Jones said: "Water is just pouring out of the hillside. The indications are that the pressure of the water and the moving hillside may be too much for the embankment to hold."

SVR consulting civil engineer Jonathan Symonds has estimated that it may cost as much as £600,000 to permanently secure the Northwood slip alone. Total repair costs for the whole line are now thought to escalating toward the £2.5 million mark.

Despite money from Advantage West Midlands, an insurance settlement of £500,000, the railway estimates it will need to find at least another £250,000.