Borders rail work halts as man injured by sleeper

Construction of the 
£350 million Borders Railway was halted for five and a half days following a serious injury to a worker, it has emerged.

Work has now resumed on the borders rail link. Picture: Comp

The Health and Safety Executive issued two prohibition notices after a railway sleeper being carried by a piece of equipment broke free and hit a 49-year-old worker on the leg. The notices prevent contractors BAM Nuttall from using the equipment until the safety issues identified are fixed.

A spokesman for Network Rail said: “At 12:30 on Tuesday afternoon, a contractor suffered a serious leg injury while working on the Borders Railway project near Galashiels. We are working closely with our main contractor BAM to support our colleague and his family.

“The incident is currently under investigation and it would be inappropriate for Network Rail to comment further at this time. The project team took the voluntary decision to stand the site down for the remainder of the week to allow a full investigation to take place.”

Work resumed on Monday.