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THE railway maintenance machine which caused timetable chaos when it was derailed last week was taken away in the early hours of Bank Holiday Monday.

The vehicle, called a tamper, which packs down ballast under the track, came off the line at Malvern Wells just after midnight last Wednesday, April 30.

The accident closed the line between Malvern and Ledbury, and train operating companies were forced to provide replacement bus services for hundreds of commuters.

Workers managed to get the vehicle off the line and into a siding later that day, allowing the line to re-open. However the vehicle was sufficiently damaged by the derailment that it was not possible to bring it out under its own power.

Instead, a salvage operation was mounted to remove the machine from the line and take it away by road.

In the dead of night on Bank Holiday Monday, floodlights illuminated the line at Malvern Wells, and two giant cranes lifted the machine, weighing many tons, off the line, over the fence and on to a waiting lorry, whereupon it was taken away for repairs.

The vehicle was a Plasser and Theurer track machine operated by the contractor Amey.

6:25pm Thursday 8th May 2008

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