Network
Rail


says
the
railway
between
Bradford
and
Ilkley
will
reopen
to
traffic
on
30
June,
after
it
had
been
blocked
by
a
landslip
for
almost
five
months.

The
slippage
at
Baildon
on
9
February
meant
that
specialist
road
rail
vehicles
and
other
equipment
had
to
be
brought
in
to
stabilise
the
land
by
removing
more
than
1,800
tonnes
of
earth,
but
the
‘complex
environment‘
meant
that
the
original
reopening
date
of
mid-March
could
not
be
achieved.

Wet
weather
also
hampered
progress,
and
it
emerged
in
late
March
that
two
houses
near
the
slip
had
become
unsafe
and
would
have
to
be
demolished.
At
this
point
Network
Rail
revised
its
expected
reopening
date
to
the
end
of
June.

Network
Rail
North
&
East
route
director
Jason
Hamilton
said:
‘I
know
this
has
been
a
difficult
time
for
the
community
and
I
want
to
say
a
heartfelt
thank
you
to
all
impacted
local
residents
for
their
support
and
cooperation
throughout
our
work.

‘I
also
want
to
say
thank
you
to
passengers
who
have
faced
disruption
to
rail
services
for
their
patience
and
understanding
of
the
situation.’

Northern
provided
rail
replacement
buses
between
Bradford
Forster
Square
and
Ilkley
while
the
line
was
closed.

The
operator’s
regional
director
Kerry
Peters
added:
‘I’d
like
to
thank
our
customers
for
their
patience
while
this
complicated
and
safety-critical
work
was
carried
out
by
Network
Rail.
We
appreciate
it
has
caused
significant
disruption
to
people’s
journeys
and
we
are
very
happy
to
be
able
to
resume
services
along
the
line
once
again.’