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Landside chaos
A landslide on the railway track between Hatfield and Stainforth is blocking all lines at Thorne junction. Picture: Marie Caley D4474MC
EMERGENCY engineering works are still being carried out between Hatfield and Stainforth after hundreds of tonnes of waste from a colliery fell onto a railway line.
The landslide from the spoil heap at Hatfield Colliery lifted a section of track by two metres and left rails twisted.
The waste fell down to a 100m section of the railway lines between Hatfield and Stainforth, leaving the line closed in both directions since then, as engineers from mining company Hargreaves and Network Rail investigate what happened. Nobody was injured during the landslip, which became gradually worse after a train driver experienced a ‘rough ride’, on Saturday afternoon.
A Network Rail spokeswoman said the line would remain closed until at least the end of the weekend.
She added: “This is a major incident. We are running replacement bus services until we can have the track back in service. There is no estimation when that will be at this stage. We are looking to at least the end of the weekend with buses replacing trains.”
At the time of the incident commuters were being ferried by buses from the nearby station as a helicopter circled above the workers on the track below.
An engineer at the scene said he had never seen anything like it.
There are no residential properties at the scene of the landslide. But Katie Squire, 28, of Bootham Crescent, Stainforth, who lives in a flat on the other side of the spoil heap, said the colliery wheels were visible from her garden. She said her mother had told her about the 1960s Aberfan disaster where a slag heap moved and engulfed a primary school, killing 116 children and 28 adults.
She said: “I think that hill is too high and there is a lot of slack over it. It could have been fatal if there had been a train on the track when it happened. Our house backs on to the hill and I have a young child in my care.
“If that were to collapse it would put us in danger, but I believe it is the other side near the railway which is pit waste.”
Changes will apply to rail services until further notice with buses replacing trains between Doncaster and Goole/Scunthorpe, with journey times extended by 60 minutes. Services between Sheffield and Bridlington/Scarborough are diverted via Selby, and will not call at Goole. Bus coordinators are also being stationed at Doncaster, Goole and Scunthorpe to assist commuters.
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Weather for Selby
Friday 24 May 2013
Today
Light showers
Temperature: 5 C to 11 C
Wind Speed: 31 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 6 C to 17 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: North
