Leeds trains: Network Rail to upgrade rails to prevent landslips and flooding as part of £60m investment

The five-year rail improvement plan was announced earlier this week (Wednesday, April 3) and is aimed at delivering a “simpler, better, greener” railway that is more geared up to cope with the extremes of climate change.

£60 million will be spent on improving the rail network in Yorkshire, with major works carried out to rail lines and stations in Horsforth, Rotherham, Goole and Immingham.

A scheme designed to reduce the risk of flooding on the railway line north of Horsforth station will see the diversion of a watercourse which currently flows into a large pipe no longer fit for purpose.

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The watercourse has caused flooding on numerous occasions, and the work, which is set to begin at the end of 2024 and early 2025, will allow for more reliable train services between Horsforth, Leeds and Harrogate.

A wide range of flood prevention work will also take place on train lines in Rotherham, where the River Don has caused flooding over the years, as well as in the Immingham and Goole areas.

Andrew Haines, Network Rail chief executive, said: “Climate change is the biggest challenge our railway faces. The extreme weather of the past year that has seen an unprecedented 14 named storms, has taken its toll on our railway – with experts predicting more of the same to come.

“We are responding to that challenge with a huge investment in making our railway more resilient and better performing for rail users during such events.

“We can never completely ‘weatherproof’ our railway, but we can be better prepared and mitigate the worst that Mother Nature throws at us, now, and into the future, to keep passengers and services safe and moving.”

Last month, Network Rail revealed that it is set to demolish two houses overlooking the railway in Baildon after heavy rain caused a major landslip on the embarkment in the village.

The two detached properties had fallen onto the tracks on the route between Bradford Forster Square and Ilkley and engineers determined that both homes were structurally unsound and at risk of collapse.

They will both be demolished before the line, which has been closed for over a month, reopens in the summer.