Regrading on Catherine’s Hill After Rail Tunnel Landslip Nears Completion

Published on: 24 Oct, 2020
Updated on: 27 Oct, 2020

The landslip at St Catherine’s tunnel, December 2019.

By Martin Giles

Work to stabilise the railway cutting above the southern end of the St Catherine’s Hill tunnel is now likely to take till mid-January.

Originally expected to have been completed by June, the re-grading followed a landslip in December 2019.

In a letter to neighbouring residents, Network rail says; “We are now in the final stages of our works, which includes restoration on St Catherine’s Hill. We plan to remove our compound from the hill by the end of November.

St Catherine's Hill Railway Works Tunnel

Restoration work commenced in May. Photo Philip Griffiths

“Much of the remaining work will be during weekday hours and with minimal disruption. But some [has to be done] when the trains are not running. We’re sorry for the inconvenience this work will cause.”

From November 10 to November 30, a two-way traffic management system will be in operation at the foot of the hill on the A3100 Portsmouth Road to allow the removal of spoil and equipment.

The discovered cave.

In April, The Guildford Dragon exclusively revealed a medieval cave had been discovered and in the summer fears nearby springs and ponds had been contaminated were quashed when tests showed water quality was high.

See: Landslip Closes Portsmouth Line at Guildford for Five Hours, More Revelations on St Catherine’s Cave Expected Soon and other linked stories here.

Responses to Regrading on Catherine’s Hill After Rail Tunnel Landslip Nears Completion

Stuart Barnes Reply

October 29, 2020 at 9:07 am

An interesting article but the comment in the final paragraph is questionable.

There is no doubt that nearby springs and ponds were contaminated initially but fortunately, after some time and the continuing flow of water, they returned to their natural states and the apparent sandy substance disappeared.