Llangennech: Railway reopens six months after train derailment

Ten of the train's 25 wagons derailed in August

A railway line has reopened six months after a train derailed and burst into flames, spilling 330,000 litres of diesel.

The southern end of the Heart of Wales line was closed following the "major incident" in Llangennech, Carmarthenshire, on 26 August.

Network Rail said it took 37,500 hours of work to protect the environment and repair the line.

On Monday passenger and freight services will resume.

• Up to 750 tonnes of oil in derailed train wagons

• Brakes jammed before train derailment

• Train diesel clean-up 'hardest since Sea Empress'

Network Rail said 30,000 tonnes of contaminated soil had been excavated from 165yds (150m) of railway, at a depth of 6ft 6in (2m) and width of 22yds (20m).

It said the soil had been replaced with new, clean material from quarries in Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire, with the fuel-soaked soil taken to a licensed waste management facility.

About 580yds (530m) of new track has been fitted and signalling that had been damaged in the fire has been reinstalled.

About 580yds of new track has been fitted

Bill Kelly, Wales route director, told BBC Wales Breakfast it was one of the biggest environmental recovery operations the company had been involved with.

"The site is riddled with underground coal mines, it runs alongside a river that runs into the main estuary and we had to deal with a harsh winter where the site became flooded," he said.

"Between 350,000 and 400,000 litres of fuel leaked which meant that 45,000 tonnes of soil had to be removed. So it was a huge operational challenge.

"Thankfully, due to the quick thinking of our front-line team, we managed to avoid any real significant impact [to the environment] and that's the most pleasing sign of this tragic event. It was a significant event and it could have been so much worse."

'Huge milestone'

Martyn Evans, who chairs the recovery co-ordination group at Natural Resources Wales, said there had been far-reaching impacts on the environment, "particularly the shell-fisheries, tourism and industry".

He added: "Happily, most of these impacts have now been overcome and activities restored, although our work and support for some of these groups is ongoing."

Alexia Course, of Transport for Wales (TfW), said the reopening was "fantastic news".

"It has taken a tremendous amount of work from all involved and is an example of the strong collaboration between TfW, Network Rail and a wide range of partner agencies."

She added: "While we are pleased to mark this important milestone, passengers are reminded public transport is currently open for essential travel only and a reduced Covid-19 timetable is in place across the network."