Train services will remain out of action for “several months at least” on the Settle to Carlisle railway through north Yorkshire and Cumbria, after the line suffered a major landslip earlier in February.

The line partially reopened on Monday last week but now Network Rail has closed the route from Appleby to Carlisle after aerial surveys and ground monitoring revealed it was no longer safe to run trains.

The landslip at Eden Brows affected an area of more than 130m long and 70m wide and shifted an estimated 500,000t of earth.

Network Rail geotechnical specialists are carrying out detailed ground investigations using borehole equipment and the results will be used to design a lasting repair.

Route managing director Martin Frobisher said: “Our monitoring has detected a twist fault in the tracks caused by the ground movement. The slip is accelerating and it is not safe to run trains in this situation.

“The River Eden has severely eroded the base of the embankment. This, combined with the recent repeated storms and saturated ground, caused the landslip.”

The rail operator said it was not possible to provide an accurate timescale for the final repairs but it will take several months at least.

And in Kent the line between Dover and Folkestone is likely to remain closed until the summer after damage to a sea wall undermined the track last Christmas. Yesterday the Transport Secretary and Network Rail's chief executive visited the site to see repair work under way.

Meanwhile it has been confirmed that work to repair and reopen the flood damaged Lamington Viaduct, which carries the West Coast Mainline over the River Clyde, will conclude next week.

The Victorian built structure had been severely weakened and left close to falling into the Clyde by flood damage caused by Storm Frank on New Year’s Eve.

ScotRail Alliance managing director Phil Verster said: “This project has been a hugely challenging one – involving working out in the Clyde through the worst of January's storms in a race against time to save the structure. Our engineers have faced atrocious conditions throughout this project and I am really proud of their hard work and their absolute commitment to getting the line open again.”

(Photo: Network Rail)