A plan to repair a 500,000-tonne land slip which has closed part of the Settle to Carlisle line has been agreed.

The repairs at Eden Brows, near Armathwaite, will involve building a structure underneath the affected section of the railway in order to support it. Major earthworks to stabilise the embankment will also be carried out.

Network Rail, whose engineers agreed the deal, said that it cannot estimate at this stage how long it will take to carry out the repairs, due to the scale of the slip, the fact it is still moving, and the inaccessibility of its location.

The line was closed between Appleby and Carlisle on February 9.

Since then, passengers have been able to travel on trains between Leeds and Appleby but have had to use replacement bus services between Appleby and Carlisle.

After conducting aerial and ground surveillance, Network Rail detected a 130m by 70m section of the Eden Gorge embankment below the railway, and above the River Eden at Eden Brows, was giving way.

Eighty engineers and geotechnical experts have been assessing the problem and have worked to agree on a solution.

Rhiannon Price, Network Rail’s project manager for the Eden Brows repairs, said: “We have carefully considered many repair options and we are satisfied the one we’re going with is the best.

“Our aim is to do a thorough job that leaves the Settle to Carlisle railway line in better shape than it was before this land slip.

“We are acutely mindful of the impact on communities and are working to fix this slip as quickly as possible.”