Bridgnorth Cliff Railway set to reopen today - with video
A historic railway is set to reopen today after an incident which saw passengers stranded in a carriage more than 30ft up a cliff.
Engineers were working on Bridgnorth's historic Cliff Railway throughout yesterday and owners have said it will be back in action today.
Five people were stuck for about an hour at 8pm on Wednesday when the railway suffered an electrical fault, and fire crews from Bridgnorth conducted a dramatic rescue to lower the group to safety.
The railway came to a halt when the Metropolitan-Vickers winding gear, which dates back to 1944, suffered a fault.
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During the rescue, a member of the fire service was strapped into a fall arrest system before climbing down to the carriages with first aid equipment and a radio.
The remaining fire crew then worked to release the carriage brakes and move the passengers back to the station.
In an online post, Bridgnorth Fire Station said: "We discovered the carriages had stopped mid journey with a small number of people inside the carriages.
"The officer in charge sent a firefighter with a first aid pack and radio down the tracks as a precautionary measure to calm and reassure those in the carriage.
"Due to the steep nature of the descent, he was secured into a fall arrest system.
"Other firefighters then managed to work the manual release system on the brakes and safely lower/raise the carriages into the stations.
"Thankfully we visit the Cliff Railway and undergo familiarisation of the system for this type of event."
West Midlands Rewinds engineers were on site yesterday conducting repairs and Malvern Tipping, owner of the railway, said it will remain open until mechanics return for two days in October to complete a partial refurbishment of the motor.
