Barking, London: painful recovery continues

Extensive infrastructure damage following the Barking derailment has left rail freight and port operators with uncertainty. Nevertheless, passenger operator c2c, also badly disrupted, says it is making good progress on site at Barking station. The nationalised operator hopes to restore some of its own services by Wednesday 11 November.

The derailment of a GB Railfreight intermodal train on 23 October has caused extensive damage to railway infrastructure, disrupting rail connections serving the ports of Tilbury and London Gateway. Various collaborating agencies continued working over the weekend. However, the recovery of freight services remains a separate concern. While repairs are progressing, the timetable for restoring normal freight operations remains unclear. A further update is expected later today (Monday, 9 November).

The incident happened at approximately 13:10 on Friday 23 October, when a GB Railfreight container train travelling from London Gateway towards Hams Hall, Birmingham, partially derailed at Barking station and blocked access to some platforms and lines. Some of the damage to 1.2km of track, signalling equipment and cables must be completely rebuilt.

According to c2c’s weekend update, engineering teams are working around the clock. Their tasks include replacing sections of points, which have been manufactured to order in Wales and were expected to arrive at Barking over the weekend. The objective remains to complete the major repairs during this week.

This story was originally published by RailFreight.com. Read the full story at RailFreight.com →