The two derailments in Sussex and Essex in August are set to cost Network Rail £9 million, according to a Freedom of Information Act response.

The accident near Lewes during the afternoon of 13 August involved three coaches of a Southern train which overturned on an embankment, and Rail Accident Investigation Branch reports suggest that the track had become deformed during a very hot day, when the temperature at Kew Gardens reached 38.1 C.

Thirty people were hurt, two of them seriously. The cost of clearing and repairing the line, plus two 125-tonne rail mounted cranes and other equipment, delay attribution and rail replacement services, has been put at £5.4 million. The line was closed between Haywards Heath, Plumpton and Lewes until 1 September.

The Wickford derailment the following day involved one coach at the rear of a train, and again the weather was very hot. No one was hurt, but the driver reported seeing a ‘kink’ in the rails and Greater Anglia said more than 2km of track had been ‘extensively’ damaged. The line had to be closed between Billericay and Hockley until 26 August, and the cost of Wickford will be around £3.6 million.

Network Rail told New Civil Engineer: ‘We only hold estimated or “anticipated final cost” information for repairs at both Lewes and Wickford – this amounts to £5.4 million and £3.65 million respectively.

‘These costs will cover a range of activities associated with recovery after an event like this, including hiring heavy plant machinery and infrastructure renewal and repair.

‘It is vital that this work is carried out meticulously, to the highest standards, to ensure the safety of the railway and of those experts involved in carrying out the recovery.’

The delay attribution compensation should mean little or no loss to taxpayers, because the money is being paid by publicly-owned Network Rail to publicly-owned Greater Thameslink Railway and Greater Anglia, both of which are now owned by a subsidiary company of the Department for Transport, although Network Rail will have to pay for compensation to passengers, the recovery equipment, damage to track and train, and rail replacement services.

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