Ace in the hole

Abstract

The East Coast Main Line is one of the UK's most important rail routes. Running from London to Edinburgh, it carries thousands of passengers and millions of tonnes of freight each year. Any disruption of the service can be costly for rail infrastructure manager Network Rail, which must pay train operators compensation for any delays. When mine workings with the potential to collapse were found directly beneath the tracks at Dolphingstone, 17km east of Edinburgh, Network Rail was keen to resolve the problem as quickly as possible. Clever geotechnical engineering came to the rescue. Just one year after the scale of the problem was identified, trains will start to run on a new £56M, 1.8km stretch of track between Prestonpans and Wallyford stations on Easter Monday.