Repairs have commenced on the Snaefell Mountain Railway between Bungalow and Snaefell Mountain to fix a landslip which occurred last winter after a once in 50 years rainfall event happened – twice! The extremely heavy rainfall and flooding caused a landslip along a 60 metre section of cliff adjacent to the tram line and meant that extra points had to be installed to allow a section of single line operation.
Work on this section will involve constructing a new wall with two metre long gabion baskets filled with five inch clean stones to aid drainage and support the line. It is planned the work, which will cost over £100,000, will be completed by the end of the year and railways staff will then be able to remove the points.
Ian Longworth, Director of Public Transport, said: “We have been running on a single track throughout the 2013 season and we have had to leave people on busy days at Laxey as a result, which we are sorry for. It has been a logistical challenge and these repair works will ensure we can operate at full capacity next season.”