On 5 February 2024, a railway embankment failed at Baildon – GWC Mag

The Landslide Blog is written by Dave Petley, who is widely recognized as a world leader in the study and management of landslides.

On 5 February 2024, a railway cutting failed on the edge of Baildon in West Yorkshire, England. As a consequence, the railway line, an important route linking towns across the region, was closed whilst repairs were initiated.

I have written previously about the challenges that Network Rail, which manages the railway infrastructure, faces around earthworks. The UK’s railway infrastructure was mostly constructed in the Victorian era, so is now in urgent need of upgrading, and was designed for a climate that was very different to conditions today. Failures occur frequently across the network, especially in prolonged periods of wet weather.

The Baildon landslide has rapidly become a poster child for the challenges that Network Rail face. It is nearly two months since the failure at Baildon, but the line remains closed.

Network Rail has released images of the site:-

The site is located at [53.8522, -1.7519]. There is good Google Earth imagery of the embankment, which looks unremarkable.

On the face of it, this site looks quite straightforward. Initially, cracks were observed on the slope, and Network Rail reported that on 13 February that:

“Over the past week, the land has slipped and now work is set to begin on repairing the cutting slope and reinstating trains through Baildon, with early estimations that the line could reopen in mid-March.”

On 16 February they reported that the work was going well:-

“Network Rail engineers are working to remove more than 2,500 tonnes of soil at the site of a landslip in Baildon as efforts continue to reinstate train services in the area.”

On 23 February, they reported that the work was on schedule and proceeding well:–

“Engineers have worked around the clock to stabilise the land, with more than 1,800 tonnes of earth removed so far using specialist road rail vehicles and excavators. Work is progressing and on schedule, with trains set to run through the area again from mid-March.”

But by 12 March, the situation had changed notably:

“Matt Rice, Route Director for Network Rail’s North & East route, said: … “The site is incredible complex which has meant work has not been able to be carried out as quickly as we were initially hoping.

“We are continuing to liaise with local residents impacted by this landslip and with various partner agencies to reinstate the train service as soon as we can while maintaining a safe working environment.””

Today, the news is much more bleak. BBC News is reporting that the two houses at the top of the slope are going to have to be demolished:-

“Two homes next to a landslip-hit railway line in West Yorkshire will have to be demolished after being deemed at risk of collapse, Network Rail has said. The properties, in Baildon, had been affected by the same movement of land which had also led to the closure of the nearby railway line to trains since early February. Network Rail said wet weather in recent weeks had made the situation worse and the homes were now structurally unsafe.”

This is devastating for the home owners, and for the community as the line will remain closed until June.

As far as I’m aware, Network Rail has not released any information about the complex conditions that it has encountered, but the loss of structural integrity of the houses suggests to me that the landslide might have retrogressed. This image, also from Network Rail, shows how perilously close the crown of the landslide was to the houses:-

The landslide appears to be rotational in nature, so maybe debuttressing of the slope has triggered further blocks to fail. If so, the houses would indeed have been impossible to save.

Meanwhile, issues are occurring elsewhere on the rail network as a result of the ongoing wet weather. Perhaps most intriguingly, a large crack has appeared in the area of the Folkestone Warren landslide in Kent. This is a famous landslide location that has had very extensive mitigation over the years. It will be fascinating to see what happens there given that further heavy rainfall is forecast.

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