Scenic railway closes for repairs

One of the most scenic railway routes in the country has been closed for emergency track repairs.

Parts of the Settle-to-Carlisle railway, which runs over the Ribblehead viaduct in North Yorkshire, will be closed until 31 March.

Rail passenger watchdog Passenger Focus said rail users had not been given enough notice about the closures.

Network Rail apologised that the work was being carried out at short notice but insisted that it needed to be done.

It said an increase in the number of freight trains using the track had caused the damage.

"We've had to bring work forward from what we'd programmed to do over the next few years," said spokesman Keith Lumley.

"If we hadn't done that then we could possibly be looking at a long-term closure of the line."