RAILTRACK has announced plans to spend £30 million on the Settle to Carlisle line over the next year.

The money is mainly for renewing 50km (31-and-a-half miles) of track on the historic route. Repairs are scheduled for Blea Moor tunnel - the longest tunnel on the line - and a programme of embankment works. Railtrack also revealed long term plans to improve the speed and capacity of the line.

The cash injection forms part of Railtrack's £8 billion national enhancement programme, and the long term strategy is part of a wish list which would cost £52 billion countrywide.

"The Settle and Carlisle line is a vital North-South artery for increasing levels of traffic, especially freight. We have commenced investment to sustain and grow this flow and we wish to enhance the capabilities of this route," said a Railtrack spokesman.

Last year Railtrack spent £17 million on renewing 27km (almost 17 miles) of track and this year's work is a continuation of that project. It spent a further £3 million on improvements to stations.

The new track along the 123-year-old Settle-Carlise line will replace worn out rails so Railtrack can lift speed restrictions introduced to take account of extra freight using the route.

In some places trains are limited to 20mph when the usual speed for the line is 60mph.

"The amount of freight has meant a lot of track renewals because of the extra wear and tear. We have already been able to lift some restrictions after the track renewals done last year," the spokesman added.

The affected part of the line will be closed between November 5 and December 4 for the work to be completed. It is still unclear which part of the route will close.

The Friends of the Settle-Carlisle Line welcomed news of the investment, and called for the work to be done speedily and efficiently.

Acting chairman Philip Johnston said Northern Spirit, the train operating company, had assured the Friends that a "seamless substitutionary bus service" would continue to provide more than adequate services to maintain passenger levels throughout the closure.

"This long term investment for the Settle-Carlisle line augurs well for the future of this key mainline (which is booming after British Rail's ill-starred attempts to close it a decade ago)," he added. "Committee members need to be convinced that all such work will be completed expeditiously (the Rail Freight Group recently suggested that new steel sleepers were manually laid last November) and to minimise delays to passengers in remote areas, for whom this train service is a lifeline."

The embankments project will improve drainage leading to fewer landslips so making the line safer during excessively wet weather, and the Blea Moor tunnel repairs are general maintenance matters.

Railtrack managers will be giving a public lecture at the Friends annual general meeting tomorrow (Saturday). Members of the public are invited to the lecture at 2pm at Giggleswick School.

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