'Serious landslip' disrupts Severn Valley Railway in Shropshire
A serious landslip has occurred on the Severn Valley Railway disrupting the heritage line and leaving bosses facing a large repair bill.
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The landslip has left the track impassable at one location in Shropshire along the 16-mile route, SVR has said.
The damage happened around 300 metres north of an area known as Sterns on the Shropshire section of the line.
Although the Sterns area has suffered previous landslips with considerable remedial work already carried out, the location of this failure is not one the railway previously had concerns about.
The SVR’s head of infrastructure Chris Bond visited the site to make a preliminary inspection. He said last night: "We’ve suffered a significant embankment failure and damage to approximately 30 metres of the track and track bed. The area remains in a dangerous state and further slippage may occur so we are warning people to stay well away.
"We will seek further guidance from specialist contractors, but it’s already clear this will be a major infrastructure repair project that will take considerable time and money."
The affected area lies between the SVR’s northern terminus station at Bridgnorth and the smaller Hampton Loade station. Until the railway can repair its line, it won’t be able to operate services between the two stations, although fortunately the rest of the line, between Kidderminster and Hampton Loade, is not affected and can operate.
SVR managing director Jonathan ‘Gus’ Dunster, said: "We’re due to reopen on February 15 for half-term and the start of our 2025 season, but clearly services between Bridgnorth and Hampton Loade cannot run. We want to reassure passengers who’ve pre-booked tickets that we’ll be in touch soon by email, and they don’t need to phone us. We’ll get this sorted out as quickly as we possibly can.
"There is of course, a further impact on us as a heritage line, and that’s the cost we now face to bring our full line back into operation. Things were just beginning to stabilise for the SVR, following several years of financial struggles, and this is the last thing we needed.
"Inevitably, we’re going to have to find the funds to pay for this essential repair, and would welcome all the help that we can get. If you would like to assist, we would be extremely grateful, and you can donate to the SVR Resilience Fund at svr.co.uk."
