Oxfordshire: Rail line reopens following landslip

Specialist civil engineering contractors were brought in to build a retaining wall to support the embankment

Services will resume on a rail line which was blocked for 11 days following a landslip.

A Great Western Railway (GWR) service ran into rubble after the landslide at Cassington Road bridge, between Oxford and Hanborough.

The line between Oxford and Kingham remained closed while Network Rail carried out emergency repairs to the bridge and surrounding land.

It will reopen in time for the 05:10 Oxford to Moreton-In-Marsh.

The GWR Paddington service came to a stop on the evening of Friday 10 February after the side wall of the rail bridge collapsed.

Passenger Martin Chapman described feeling "two bumps", like the train had "driven over something", before being told told it was "deemed unfit to continue".

Its 362 passengers were asked to leave their carriages and walk along the tracks to another train.

The GWR Paddington service came to a stop after the side wall of a rail bridge collapsed

Network Rail previously said it was expected to reopen the line by the Sunday.

But there were further delays after the ground was discovered to be "extremely unstable" with a "significant risk to the stability of the road and utilities". Further landslips also exposed a gas main.

Specialist civil engineering contractors were brought in to design and install sheet piling so a retaining wall could support the embankment and road.

Nicky Hughes, from Network Rail, said: "The road over rail bridge at Yarnton is 170 years old, from the Victorian era, and one of over 2,000 similar aged bridges we have across our Western route.

"We take the structural integrity of these bridges very seriously and regularly monitor their condition and conduct detailed examinations every six years."

The line is currently under a speed limit while engineers reinforce the structure.

Construction work will take place for a couple of weeks at night when no services are running.

The highway over the bridge will remain closed until at least the middle of next week, the rail company said.

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