NORTHERN CLASS 37 WORKINGS TO FINISH IN JANUARY
Published at 18:53 on Saturday 8th December 2018
Tags: Northern, DRS, Class 37
On 3rd October 2018, DRS Class 37 No. 37425 "Concrete Bob / Sir Robert McAlpine", leaves Aspatria, Cumbria, at the head of the 09.18 Northern service from Barrow-in-Furness to Carlisle. Passing to the left is a Northern Class 156 forming 11.07 service from Carlisle to Lancaster. Laurie Mulrine
Closures on the Cumbrian Coast route on Sundays during January and early February will allow Network Rail to undertake major track renewal work, while aligning with an upgrade in services with removal of loco-hauled trains.
Around 5,000 yards of track will be replaced in a £3 million project, between Silecroft and Bootle, allowing a temporary speed restriction that is currently in place to be lifted. The work will take palce over six consecutive Sundays from 6th January until 10th February, with buses replacing trains between Whitehaven and Millom. Eight mid-week nights, when trains are not running, will also be used to complete the upgrade.
Chris Jackson, Regional Director at Northern, said: “The work also coincides with the planned removal of the old Class 37 locomotives which will be replaced on the Cumbrian Coast with more Class 156 trains."
Following the removal of the Class 68 diagram a few months back, the withdrawal of the last loco-hauled service is likely to come in mid-January, after the transfer of several Class 156 DMUs from ScotRail.
