Train service to return to cut-off villages

Trains are expected to return to Braystones and Nethertown next month

Trains are expected to return to serve two rural villages which were cut off by tunnel repair works.

Northern shut the line between Sellafield and Whitehaven in west Cumbria for emergency repairs after a survey found the floor needed to be strengthened at Bransty tunnel.

The operator plans to limit the closure to between Whitehaven and Corkickle from 1 September - a week later than initially announced - with buses replacing trains.

Although it had planned to keep Nethertown and Braystones stations closed, Northern has now announced it will be able to serve the villages by train again, also from 1 September.

"To do this safely, we need to install a temporary safety barrier and carry out checks to make sure a different type of train can run on this route without any issues," a Northern spokesman said.

Nethertown and Braystones had been cut off by the Bransty tunnel closure, as buses could not serve the stations due to access issues.

The problems, coupled with delays to bus replacement services elsewhere on the line, prompted Whitehaven and Workington MP Josh MacAlister to call for Northern to find a solution.

The line, which runs from Barrow to Carlisle, is used by staff at Sellafield and BAE - two major employers in the county.