Closure of Bransty Tunnel (near Whitehaven) expected until further notice

[HSTEd]

Absolutely. I keep forgetting , abandoned infrastructure still needs maintenance.

If they just filled the tunnel with foam concrete the required ongoing maintenance would probably be a small fraction of what is required at the moment.

Oops, noticed people upthread beat me to it!

There isn't much freight potential for Sellafield beyond about 2030 anyway. AGR operations are rapidly winding down and that will be more or less the end of flask traffic.

Would operating the line as two stubs, without the tunnel, for the long term really degrade the passenger experience?

Obviously you'd probably need a timetable recast if its permanent, but that could be done.

 

[ScottGallagher]

I have a few friends who use the Cumbrian Coast line south of Corkickle that actually consider the service to be better than when the tunnel was open, travelling south at least.

They now have newer class 195 trains, more capacity and even some through services to and from Manchester Airport! I wonder how many will see it as a downgrade if it does reopen and it returns to mainly a Barrow - Carlisle 156 operation.

This is a very good point, i doubt the good folk of Nethertown and Braystones ever thought theyd get a direct train to Manchester Airport let alone class 195s!
I have travelled from Millom to Carlisle once or twice and know of others that have but it wouldnt be regular. How reliable is the shuttle bus at Corkickle?

 

[Mcr Warrior]

This is a very good point, i doubt the good folk of Nethertown and Braystones ever thought theyd get a direct train to Manchester Airport let alone class 195s!

What is that, though, one random Sundays Only evening direct 'service' from Nethertown/Braystones to Manchester Airport that doesn't even get to the Airport until some time after 10 p.m.?

 

[ScottGallagher]

What is that, though, one random Sundays Only evening direct 'service' from Nethertown/Braystones to Manchester Airport that doesn't even get to the Airport until some time after 10 p.m.?

No its a bit more than that weekdays as well. Not every train stops but its still.a link nevertheless

 

[Mcr Warrior]

No its a bit more than that weekdays as well. Not every train stops but its still.a link nevertheless

Thanks for so advising. Could only see the 1822 Sunday service from Corkickle as calling at both Nethertown/Braystones and then continuing direct to Manchester Airport. Rest of the time a change maybe needed at Barrow-in-Furness, Lancaster / Preston.

 

[12C]

The 0710 from Millom goes direct to the airport on weekdays which is quite handy.

 

[anothertyke]

How much could the tunnel job cost? Eden Brows on the S and C cost £23 million in 2016, probably £35 mill in todays money. What would be the choke price?

 

[The Planner]

How much could the tunnel job cost? Eden Brows on the S and C cost £23 million in 2016, probably £35 mill in todays money. What would be the choke price?

I think it will be more of what else has to be pushed back into CP8 from the renewals budget more than anything to offset all/part of it.

 

[Class 170101]

There isn't much freight potential for Sellafield beyond about 2030 anyway. AGR operations are rapidly winding down and that will be more or less the end of flask traffic.

Sorry I don't understand surely we will need Sellafield and thus the railway line beyond 2030 now that Hinckley Point, Sizewell C, and now Wyflda (North Wales) have all recieved the go ahead or are under construction to deal with the Nuclear waste they will inevitably produce?

 

[HSTEd]

Sorry I don't understand surely we will need Sellafield and thus the railway line beyond 2030 now that Hinckley Point, Sizewell C, and now Wyflda (North Wales) have all recieved the go ahead or are under construction to deal with the Nuclear waste they will inevitably produce?

No, because the spent fuel from those units will be stored indefinitely on site before being shipped directly to an eventual geological disposal facility. This facility will be built, at a location yet to be determined, sometime late in the century, or early next century.

This is a total change from when the existing AGR fleet was constructed, because fuel from those plants was supposed to be reprocessed and thus the plants were not built with a suitable on site storage area.

Reprocessing at Sellafield has ceased and it is merely being used to store AGR fuel in the absence of anywhere else to put it.

But once AGR defuelling is complete by around 2030 or earlier, due to life limiting core cracking, that will be the end of significant flask traffic to Sellafield.

 

[AndrewE]

No, because the spent fuel from those units will be stored indefinitely on site before being shipped directly to an eventual geological disposal facility. This facility will be built, at a location yet to be determined, sometime late in the century, or early next century.

This is a total change from when the existing AGR fleet was constructed, because fuel from those plants was supposed to be reprocessed and thus the plants were not built with a suitable on site storage area.

Reprocessing at Sellafield has ceased and it is merely being used to store AGR fuel in the absence of anywhere else to put it.

But once AGR defuelling is complete by around 2030 or earlier, due to life limiting core cracking, that will be the end of significant flask traffic to Sellafield.

isn't there going to be a continuing need for access to the low-level waste site at Drigg when Sellafield gets cleaned up and as the demolition of cooled mothballed reactor parts recommences?

 

[35B]

isn't there going to be a continuing need for access to the low-level waste site at Drigg when Sellafield gets cleaned up and as the demolition of cooled mothballed reactor parts recommences?

Even if there is, how well can that requirement be met without Bransty Tunnel?

 

[AndrewE]

Even if there is, how well can that requirement be met without Bransty Tunnel?

probably fine as they can use freight paths that would have been used for flasks from the south going to Sellafield.

It will be a pain for DRS though, having to send all their locos (and their freight from Scotland) via Carnforth. Do any flasks still get imported via Barrow?

 

[themiller]

Peter Hendy is reported as confirming that funding will be found to repair Whitehaven tunnel.

https://cumbriacrack.com/2025/11/17/rail-minister-pledges-cash-will-be-found-for-bransty-tunnel-repairs/

 

[HSTEd]

isn't there going to be a continuing need for access to the low-level waste site at Drigg when Sellafield gets cleaned up and as the demolition of cooled mothballed reactor parts recommences?

Most low level waste shipments to drigg tend to be by road, and in any case it will be many decades before demolition of reactor primary circuits commences on the commercial reactor fleet.

Given how close Sellafield is to Drigg, insisting on the railway is probably not a great idea economically!

 

[themiller]

Most low level waste shipments to drigg tend to be by road, and in any case it will be many decades before demolition of reactor primary circuits commences on the commercial reactor fleet.

Given how close Sellafield is to Drigg, insisting on the railway is probably not a great idea economically!

Drigg will continue to need rail access for many years to come as the access by road is narrow and through a village. There are restrictions on the number and size of wagons through Drigg village and the road through Seascale cannot be used by lorries because of a narrow bridge under the Cumbrian coast railway which cannot even accommodate a large van.
All of this comes on top of the plans to construct new nuclear at the Moorside site and the requirement for stone to cap the Drigg vaults as they’re filled.
Cumbria is a remote rural county with narrow roads but heavy traffic at times. It’s not unknown for the road from Duddon Bridge to the A590 at Greenodd to be blocked by high tides and flooding or by wagons from the quarry at Millom not being able to make it to the top of hills. What you have is a narrow transport corridor with the Irish Sea on one side and the Cumbrian Fells on the other.

 

[HSTEd]

Drigg will continue to need rail access for many years to come as the access by road is narrow and through a village. There are restrictions on the number and size of wagons through Drigg village and the road through Seascale cannot be used by lorries because of a narrow bridge under the Cumbrian coast railway which cannot even accommodate a large van.

Well if the railway closes (as has been suggested upthread), the bridge could be dealt with relatively inexpensively. Probably far more cheaply than attempting to maintain the railway for a handful of deliveries of material to the facility.

Deliveries of waste to the complex are about two containers per day.

All of this comes on top of the plans to construct new nuclear at the Moorside site and the requirement for stone to cap the Drigg vaults as they’re filled.

Even capping stone is about a quarter million tonnes every few decades.
The 280,000 tonnes to be delivered over the next ~3 years is for a new cover for the entire legacy facility, filled with decades of material.





Moorside new nuclear, in the unlikely event that it happens, would be able to meet its bulk delivery requirements with a jetty like the one built for Hinkley Point C. A rail connection is not necessary and a jetty will likely be desired in any case for delivery of large components.

 

[62484GlenLyon]

I see that RTC are advertising a Cumbrian Coast Express train for March 21st 2026. Interesting......

UK Steam Rail Day Trips and Worldwide Rail Holidays

The Railway Touring Company has a long established reputation for providing an interesting variety of UK day trips by steam train and tours in the UK, Europe and Worldwide.

www.railwaytouring.net

 

[The Planner]

I see that RTC are advertising a Cumbrian Coast Express train for March 21st 2026. Interesting......

UK Steam Rail Day Trips and Worldwide Rail Holidays

The Railway Touring Company has a long established reputation for providing an interesting variety of UK day trips by steam train and tours in the UK, Europe and Worldwide.

www.railwaytouring.net

That is going to be aspirational at best..

 

[Annetts key]

I see that RTC are advertising a Cumbrian Coast Express train for March 21st 2026. Interesting......

UK Steam Rail Day Trips and Worldwide Rail Holidays

The Railway Touring Company has a long established reputation for providing an interesting variety of UK day trips by steam train and tours in the UK, Europe and Worldwide.

www.railwaytouring.net

Will there be a rail replacement steam bus?

 

[Pinus contorta]

The northern website was advising disruption till at least end of January. But its now saying till end of March. I expect that will soon get extended again.

 

[themiller]

I was talking to a Northern conductor at Carlisle yesterday who said that work is only carried out during the day due to the dwellings above certain sections. Also, no work appears to be ongoing at the moment - possibly due to the necessity to develop a design for the works.

 

[anothertyke]

Post 200 above rumours no work on site before May.

 

[Straus]

I can still see this being insurmountable. There are so many legalities and liabilities to work through (all which will surely cost a fortune, solicitors are fairly far removed from charity!)

Then there's the actual engineering issue - if some of these mine workings are unrecorded then it's unlikely that the extent is (as yet) understood, so any design will have a degree of 'suck it and see' what's the contingency if the grout they pump either just keeps disappearing down the hole, or mixes with seawater and doesn't get to the right strength required?

 

[yorksrob]

I can still see this being insurmountable. There are so many legalities and liabilities to work through (all which will surely cost a fortune, solicitors are fairly far removed from charity!)

Then there's the actual engineering issue - if some of these mine workings are unrecorded then it's unlikely that the extent is (as yet) understood, so any design will have a degree of 'suck it and see' what's the contingency if the grout they pump either just keeps disappearing down the hole, or mixes with seawater and doesn't get to the right strength required?

Some sort of concrete tube ?

Really, if it does start getting bogged down in legalese, government needs to step in and declare it a national project.

 

[zwk500]

Some sort of concrete tube ?

Really, if it does start getting bogged down in legalese, government needs to step in and declare it a national project.

Given the experience of other national projects, declaring this as such would not have any guarantee of avoiding legal minefields

 

[35B]

Some sort of concrete tube ?

Really, if it does start getting bogged down in legalese, government needs to step in and declare it a national project.

Brutally, this is a local project, of local importance. Dragging Whitehall into it won't make it any faster, may well slow it down, and will just distract from the engineering challenge while drawing Treasury attention to an expensive piece of work that will cost far more than it will ever recover.

Beware what you ask for.

 

[HSTEd]

Tipping a never ending supply of weak concrete down the hole until it stops could get very expensive if it continues for a long time.

At what point does continuing become uneconomic?
From the terrain there doesn't appear to be any possibility of a loop around the edge of the town to reach the northern station from the north.

 

[daodao]

Some sort of concrete tube ?

Really, if it does start getting bogged down in legalese, government needs to step in and declare it a national project.

It is not a strategic route, particularly once Sellafield no longer needs rail access.

 

[yorksrob]

Brutally, this is a local project, of local importance. Dragging Whitehall into it won't make it any faster, may well slow it down, and will just distract from the engineering challenge while drawing Treasury attention to an expensive piece of work that will cost far more than it will ever recover.

Beware what you ask for.

True, but if it really was grinding to a halt, better to have a slow state juggernaut pushing it through than a local Citroen 2CV coming to a stop.

It is not a strategic route. Once Sellafield no longer needs rail access, the whole railway line from Whitehaven to Barrow could be closed completely with a limited bus service provided between these points.

Yeah, keep telling yourself that.