LUXEMBOURG Railways (CFL) has announced that the North Line from Luxembourg to Troisvierges and Liège will reopen on August 5 after nearly a year’s closure following the partial collapse of a tunnel.
The 236m-long Schieburg Tunnel located north of Kautenbach station dates from 1865 and was undergoing maintenance on a four-metre section of its roof in late August 2022 when the roof collapsed causing tonnes of debris to cover the railway line.
Nobody was injured in the incident, but train services have been disrupted with buses replacing passenger trains since the collapse.
To repair the damage CFL and its contractors have excavated 49 boreholes, injected concrete with a total volume of 414m³ at 45 locations and installed 18 new rock anchors, 10 of which are around 80m long. A road that passes over the tunnel was also closed during the work as a safety precaution.
Having stabilised the tunnel, CFL is now working to remove the remaining rock that fell and to then reinstate track, the overhead power supply and signalling. With the structure now stable, CFL has confirmed the reopening date.
