Flood-prone Crick railway tunnel repairs 'will reduce delays'

Flooding at Crick tunnel causes regular delays on the West Coast Main Line

Major repairs are to take place on a Victorian railway tunnel in a bid to stop the tracks inside flooding and to reduce delays for commuters.

Network Rail will carry out the work at the Crick tunnel on the Northampton loop of the West Coast Main Line.

The work to improve drainage is set to start on 15 March and will cost £3.5m.

Network Rail said it is working to get the line "in the best possible shape" for when more passengers return as coronavirus restrictions are lifted.

The company said water currently leaks through the walls of the 140-year-old tunnel, causing flooding and slowing down the passenger and freight trains that use the line.

It added between 2012 and 2020, delays caused by tunnel flooding totalled 15,000 minutes - more than 10 days.

The tunnel flooded in December 2020

With the country still in lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, Network Rail intends to condense a year's worth of overnight weekend work into five consecutive days between 15 and 19 March.

It is thought to be the longest full closure of the tunnel since it opened in 1881.

The company said the move will save £7.5m, as it would have cost about £11m to do over consecutive weekends lasting a year, as opposed to £3.5m now.

While the work takes place, buses will replace trains between Rugby and Northampton for London Northwestern Railway passengers.

The work to improve tunnel drainage will cost £3.5m, Network Rail said

Avanti West Coast trains will be diverted between Rugby and Milton Keynes, with changes to departure and arrival times at London Euston.

Network Rail's West Coast Mainline South route director, James Dean, said: "This speedy upgrade of Crick tunnel shows how the rail industry is coming together to get the West Coast Main Line in the best possible shape for passengers when they can return once coronavirus travel restrictions are eased."