Tracks destroyed by pit spoil heap
Twisted rail tracks after a land slip from Hatfield Collery, Stainforth. Picture: Chris Lawton
This dramatic shot shows just how much of a Doncaster pit tip moved before it destroyed a nearby railway track.
It is highly unlikely the Doncaster to Thorne line at Stainforth will be re-opened before next week - and, because of the extent of this week’s landslip, it could be much longer.
Hargreaves Coal Services, who run Hatfield Colliery, are still waiting for independent engineers to establish why the heap has moved sideways and onto the railway.
An aerial survey clearly showed a number of deep fissures on the spoil heap which will have to be stabilised before track repairs can get underway.
Train services between Doncaster and Scunthorpe and Goole, including those stopping at Crowle, have been replaced by buses, which leave Doncaster station at 45 minutes past the hour, and add up to 60 minutes to the journey.
The track problems appeared at the weekend and became much more severe early on Tuesday.
A Network Rail spokesman said: “Our engineers are working with the colliery to plan the safe repair of the track bed and railway once the spoil heap has been stabilised. We understand it will take several days to complete the stabilisation work.
“At this stage it is not possible to say when direct rail services will resume. We will publish a timescale for the work as soon as possible and apologise to passengers for the inconvenience caused.”
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Weather for South Yorkshire
Tuesday 21 May 2013
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 8 C to 14 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: North
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 4 C to 14 C
Wind Speed: 21 mph
Wind direction: North west
