A railway in north Derbyshire will be closed for seven weeks in July and August, so that Network Rail engineers can step up their efforts to prevent part of an embankment falling into a river.

Cracks in land in the Goyt Valley west of New Mills, near the village of Hague Bar, were first reported in April. Engineers started emergency repair work on two sites, but it was then decided to close one running line and impose a speed restriction on the other.

Now Network Rail is warning that 50,000 tonnes of earth could fall into the River Goyt unless a full engineering possession is arranged.

The line will now be closed completely from 6 July until 25 August. Buses will replace the train service between New Mills Central and Chinley while the engineers stabilise the embankment by drilling foundations into the earth and building a wall between the railway and the river to stop the ground movement.

Network Rail’s scheme project manager Vitesh Solanki said: ‘I’d advise passengers to check National Rail enquiries for travel advice in July and August for services between Manchester Piccadilly and Sheffield.

‘I’m sorry for the disruption the rail closure will cause passengers. The closure is the safest and quickest way for us to carry out the work so we can reopen the line fully as soon as possible.’

Network Rail is working with Northern to reduce disruption as much as possible.

Northern said: ‘We’d like to thank our customers for their patience while this important, safety-critical work is carried out by Network Rail. We’ll do everything we can to make sure customers can still get where they want to be – but they should allow more time for their journeys.’

The work means there will be some changes in services from Manchester to New Mills Central via Bredbury:

From Monday to Saturday there will be an hourly train service between Manchester Piccadilly and Marple while buses run between Marple and Chinley. On Sundays, an hourly bus service will run between Manchester Piccadilly, Bredbury, Marple and Chinley.

Services between Chinley and Manchester Piccadilly will continue to be diverted via Hazel Grove and Stockport.