MONDAY: Network Rail to reopen railway between Horsham and Dorking after emergency repairs following landslip

Network Rail has issued the following press release about the line reopening to Southern services between Horsham and Dorking on Monday, after landslip repair works were completed.

Repairs to the railway at Ockley have been completed following a landslip on an embankment that left one of the tracks hanging in mid-air, meaning that the railway between Horsham and Dorking will reopen to trains as expected, on Monday 16^th February.

Network Rail has thanked the local community for their patience following the slip on an embankment to the south of Ockley station, which meant that the two tracks on this stretch of line between Horsham and Dorking had been left impassable since 27^th January.

Since teams arrived on site, work has been carried out throughout the day and night to rebuild the railway. Thanks to the full closure of this section of railway, engineers have also ensured that other areas near the landslip site have also benefited from wider proactive works, with 324 soil nails installed on the embankment to strengthen it. At the same time, the ecology of the area around the railway needed to be protected.

The slip happened when the soil gave way along a nine-metre section of embankment, sliding out from underneath the tracks, in what engineers call a ‘rotational failure’. The now strengthened embankment was made of a mixture of soil, saturated after days of heavy rain, on top of a persistently wet winter so far.

Network Rail Sussex route director, Lucy McAuliffe, said: “This was a significant landslip for our teams to respond to, and I can only apologise to passengers who have been impacted by this closure.

“The team worked around the clock to rebuild the railway at Ockley in just a few weeks, which is an incredible achievement, but we know how important this railway is to people and how crucial it was to get regular train services back on track.

“I’d like say a huge thank-you to passengers and to the local community for their patience and support while we made the railway safe again.”

Network Rail project manager, Nad Campbell, said: “Firstly, we needed to stabilise the embankment, stopping it from moving, and then had to rebuild the railway by removing the damaged track and bringing in a piling rig to install 47 steel piles. That meant building a concrete platform strong enough to carry a 50‑tonne machine.

“We also had to remove all of the failed material – 2,800 tonnes of it – and reshaped the slope into what’s called a benched formation, which looks like giant steps. That helped us lock the new stone in and make the structure stronger. By bringing in the new material by train we made a carbon reduction of 76 per cent and removed the need for around 140 deliveries by lorry.

“The team effort involved in rebuilding this section of railway has been fantastic – from Network Rail’s teams to our suppliers at M Group, our drone operators at Mulholland Media who recorded the hive of activity on site, and the excellent working relationship our ecologists have had with Natural England in ensuring dormice licences were issued in record time.”

Throughout the work, Southern was able to maintain a half-hourly train service between Dorking and London Victoria, but it has been running buses only between Horsham and Dorking, stopping at the stations of Warnham, Ockley and Holmwood in between. Passengers have also been able to use alternative Southern and Thameslink services between Horsham and London Bridge or London Victoria, all taking the alternative route towards the capital via Gatwick Airport.

Jenny Saunders, Customer Service Director for GTR that runs Southern Railway, said: "Through careful work, we've managed to keep the vast majority of our passengers on the move by train, but for local trips it has been necessary to take one of our buses, which has taken longer. So, it really is very good news that the landslip is now repaired and we can restore our full service. I am grateful for our passengers' understanding and patience and thank Network Rail for reopening the tracks on time."

ENDS

Notes to Editors

B-roll is available upon request. Please contact paul.prentice@networkrail.co.uk.