Full rail services resume after damaged Plymouth bridge is fixed

Rail services across Devon and Cornwall have returned to normal today, September 5, after Network Rail repaired a bridge damaged by a Tesco lorry.

The incident in Plymouth forced the railway line that connects Cornwall and Plymouth with the rest of the country to close, with only a partial service running.

The disruption led to some passengers waiting several hours for trains or even spending the night in a hotel.

But Network Rail today confirmed the bridge has reopened after making good progress on the repairs.

Capital Delivery Director for Network Rail, Stuart Calvert, said: "Our teams have worked exceptionally hard.

"From the first people who came to the site to work out how we could remove the lorry, to working out what we needed to do to recover it and then to do the recovery itself. It’s been a really big complex job."

Network Rail and Tesco have apologised for the disruption with the supermarket chain saying it "would investigate how the accident occurred."

Network Rail also apologised to residents for the enforced road closures that have been in place and for the machinery that has been in constant operation.