Nuneham viaduct closure: Train firm says 'bigger challenge ahead' post-Easter

The Nuneham viaduct had to be closed on 3 April for an urgent safety inspection

Rail replacement bus services after the Easter holidays due to the closure of a railway viaduct will be a "bigger challenge", a train firm has said.

Trains are unable to run between Didcot Parkway and Oxford due to the emergency closure of the Nuneham viaduct.

Great Western Railway said it was now trying to source buses as many of the coaches it is currently using will return to school runs from Monday.

Trains are not expected to run on the line again until 10 June.

The bridge crosses the River Thames between Culham and Radley

Mark Hopwood, managing director of Great Western Railway, said: "It's slightly easier this week as there are still quite a lot of people on holiday.

"School holidays end at the weekend so we are getting ready for a bigger challenge next week as quite a few of these coaches will be off on school runs so we will have to bring buses in from further afield."

Mr Hopwood said GWR was also "looking at whether we can run some more trains from Oxford into London with Great Western using the Chiltern Railway route".

Analysis

Paul Clifton, BBC South transport correspondent

The tracks have already been lifted, the ballast scraped off the viaduct, ready for work to start.

Just before Nuneham viaduct was closed, Network Rail's contractors injected polymer material into the abutment on which the bridge deck rests.

The aim: to stabilise the sinking brickwork. It didn't work. Trains had to be halted. Now Network Rail has decided the abutment must be completely rebuilt.

It's a huge and complex piece of engineering: working in the River Thames, replacing a structure built on soft clay in 1909. They have no idea what the foundations are like.

The ambition is to reopen this key part of the national rail network on 10 June. That date is a target, not a promise.

The viaduct, which carries the rail line over the River Thames, shut for an urgent safety inspection over a week ago.

It carries CrossCountry, Great Western Railway services and also freight trains to and from Southampton Docks.

The route is used by freight trains to and from Southampton Docks

Last week, Maggie Simpson OBE, director general of the Rail Freight Group, told the BBC that 40 freight trains ran on the route every day - the equivalent of around 2,000 lorries.

Network Rail is building a temporary structure to stabilise the viaduct.

The track operator said the viaduct failed despite recent repairs and following the wettest March in more than 30 years.

Travellers are being urged to check their journeys before they travel.