At 7.10am 20th March 2012 the first convoy of cars drove along part of the west coast line running next to the A890 Lochcarron to Kyle road at Stromeferry, which was closed in December after a series of landslides.
In order to alleviate lengthy road traffic diversions near Attadale on the A890 Stromeferry Bypass, 100 m west of the Rockfall Shelter, HoldFast units have been used to permit road traffic under convey to pass the worksite over the railway line running alongside during the ongoing rock face stabilisation works.
The 150m section of the Kyle line will be shared in-between trains with road vehicles up to 7.5 tonnes for the duration of the works.
The road conveys pass through the site under the control of Network Rail operators under the RETB token system.
The rapid deployment of this novel use of the HoldFast crossing units was necessary as the temporary ferry was due to start operating it’s normal summer timetable resulting in a 140 mile detour for locals without the road on rail solution.
The combined efforts of TRAC, Network Rail, LCI, URS, HMRI, Highland Council and HoldFast have made life that little bit easier during these challenging civil engineering works along the narrow corridor along Loch Carron.
The platform was installed by Level Crossing Installations.