Bank failure in Larkhall

Image: © A-M-Jervis Taken: 13 Aug 2005

It isn't only financial banks that can fail when there's a run on them; railway banksides can fall down too. Here a new Larkhall Railway station was being built on the site of the town's old Central station, closed in October 1965. The rails are laid, the overhead electric wires are up and the new platforms are being formed. Then the cutting side at the south end of the station failed, burying the end of the track. Piling was hurriedly inserted, seemingly to a depth of at least five metres, to stabilise the bank while a stone retaining wall was built. However, the station successfully opened just four months later, on 12 December 2005, an official ceremony taking place three days earlier.

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