Double delay for trains

Rocks on the line at the tunnel entrance

TRAIN users in Greenfield suffered severe delays after a landslip caused a blockage on the track.

The line was shut twice within hours when signalling problems developed after the rubble had been cleared.

Rubble and debris fell on to the line near the Scout Tunnel, between Stalybridge and Mossley, at around 10.30am on Sunday. The line was closed until the early hours of yesterday while engineers shifted the blockage and checked the tracks for damage.

Trains started running again but were forced to stick to 20mph for safety reasons. At around 5am yesterday, the line developed signalling problems between Greenfield and Mossley. Wires were checked along the route and a section of cable was discovered near the Scout Tunnel that had been damaged by the landslip.

The line was closed for another 90 minutes while engineers replaced the 30 metres of damaged cable and the service was back to normal by rush hour yesterday evening.