Railway line between Oxford and Worcester reopens after wall collapse and landslip at Yarnton

This morning (22 February) train services between Oxford and Worcester will resume following the reopening of the line between Oxford and Kingham.

Network Rail engineers have had to repair a wall collapse and landslip that happened on Friday (10 February) at Yarnton near Oxford.

A GWR service ran into debris at Cassington Road Bridge causing services to be cancelled and replaced by buses.

Network Rail says 20mph temporary speed restriction will remain in place.

The highway of the road over rail bridge at Yarnton will remain closed until at least the middle of next week with plans to reopen to a single lane controlled by traffic lights.

Nicky Hughes from Network Rail, said: "We would like to thank passengers for their patience and understanding while we have made these vital repairs at Yarnton.

"Our team of engineers has worked tirelessly alongside our specialist civil engineering contractors Balfour Beatty, to design and install a solution that has enabled us to quickly and safely reopen the line to passenger services tomorrow morning as planned.

"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. Over the coming weeks our team of engineers will return to this site to begin the second phase of longer-term repairs which will further reinforce the structure and ground around the railway."