WORK is in the pipeline to stabilise a “notorious” embankment to prevent mud slipping onto a railway track.

Network Rail is planning work costing up to £2 million on a slope where landslides happen in Stour Wood, Wrabness.

The slippages have been causing multiple train delays and work was last reported to have taken place in a bid to prevent the problem in 2015.

Derek Monnery, chairman of Essex Rail Users Federation, said the area has always been notorious for landslides.

He said: “I think there are landslides because the ground is mostly clay and it moves in very wet weather and dry weather.

“The embankment is affected by clay which pushes through the tracks.”

He said he hopes the planned repairs will solve the problem permanently and said there are new techniques to stabilise the soil more.

He added: “I have travelled on the track for the past 35 years and there have been problems with landslides from time to time just because it’s part of Essex which is clay-based.

“In a very dry area it cracks and moves and in the wet conditions it swells, which is difficult to manage.

“It used to be quite a major problem and it is what I would call a trouble spot.”

A Network Rail spokesman said it is currently planning the next phase of remedial work for the historic slope instability.

She said: “We are currently planning for the work to take place in 2019/2020, subject to approvals and access, and the works are expected to cost approximately £2 million.”

The stabilisation plans come under Network Rail’s Anglia Route Strategic Plan which details multi-million pound improvements for rail routes in the region.

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