PASSENGERS will once again have direct trains between Carlisle and Skipton from Wednesday (December 7) after the route was closed by a major freight train derailment.

Railway engineers are putting the finishing touches to complex repairs at Petteril Bridge junction, between Clitheroe and Carlisle, after several wagons of a train carrying powdered cement came off the track seven weeks ago.

Network Rail has released latest footage from the site where a new reinforced-concrete bridge deck has been poured ready for tracks to be reinstated at the weekend so trains, also between Carlisle and Newcastle, can run again from Wednesday.

Huge damage was caused to a Victorian-built railway bridge, railway lines and signalling equipment during the incident on Wednesday October 19.

Since then the railway has been closed in both directions - impacting all services on the Tyne Valley line between Carlisle and Newcastle and the Settle to Carlisle line between Carlisle, Appleby and Skipton.

More than 25,000 hours of work has taken place to get the railway restored so trains can run again.

Phil James, Network Rail’s North West route director, said: “I’m sorry to passengers who’ve faced much longer journeys over the last seven weeks while we carried out our emergency railway repairs. I know how frustrating rail delays can be on people’s lives and we’ve worked tirelessly to get the routes restored as quickly as possible.

“This has been a very complex recovery and repair job. When it’s complete this major railway junction will be better than new and will provide more reliable journeys for passengers and freight for years to come.”

Over the last seven weeks forensic rail accident investigators have been assessing the cause of the derailment. Early indications suggest that a fault with a train wheel was the most likely cause of the derailment.

Repair work took 25,000 hours, with more than 40 people working 12-hour days, seven days a week, for seven weeks.

Kerry Peters, regional director at Northern, said: “We have been working very hard with Network Rail to reopen the railway at Petteril bridge following the freight train derailment in October.

“Work will be completed next week and Northern train services will be able to resume on both the Tyne Valley and Settle to Carlisle lines. We’d like to thank our customers for being patient during this disruption and everyone involved in getting our passengers moving again.”

Sharon Kennedy, Environment Agency environment manager, said: “The Environment Agency incident response teams provided support to the initial rail incident and the ongoing recovery work to ensure minimum impact to the environment . This example shows how we can work together at pace to respond to a critical incident to support safe rail infrastructure, protect the environment and manage flood risk to the public.”

Train services are due to resume from start of service on Wednesday.

In the meantime, rail replacement buses will continue to be in operation to keep passengers on the move, with people being urged to plan their journeys at www.nationalrail.co.uk.