NETWORK RAIL has revealed that the Harbury Tunnel landslip between Leamington Spa and Banbury will have been stablised and cleared by 13 March, which is three weeks earlier than originally expected.
The route between Birmingham and London Marylebone, the Thames Valley, the south coast and the port of Southampton is used by 130 passenger and freight trains a day. It has been closed since 31 January after a 350,000 tonne landslip threatened to block the line. The steeply-sided cutting had posed problems before.
Train services will return on Friday 13 March. Network Rail chief executive Mark Carne said: “Thousands of passengers, and thousands of tonnes of freight, rely on this vital route every day. We have been working around the clock and are able to reopen the railway three weeks ahead of the original estimate.
“Harbury cutting has suffered from landslips for more than 150 years. We have secured the cutting and made it safe and will carry out long term repairs which will significantly reduce the chances of similar incidents in the future.
“I would like to thank passengers and the residents of Harbury for their ongoing patience while we fix the landslip and carry out further repairs ahead of the reopening.”
Transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin said: “I am sure passengers will join with me in welcoming this news. Having seen the scale of the challenge, I congratulate Network Rail’s engineers on reopening the line faster than expected. There is, of course, a longer term task in trying to make sure this sort of disruption does not happen in future."
Chiltern Railways was one of the operators most affected. Managing director Rob Brighouse said: “Every working day over 10,000 journeys are made with Chiltern Railways between the West Midlands and London, so we applaud the tireless work undertaken by our partner, Network Rail, that has resulted in an early reopening date.
“The Chiltern Main Line is a vital link for both commuters and business travellers and while our step-straight-on replacement bus service has worked well, the restoration of direct trains between London Marylebone and Birmingham Moor Street will be welcomed by our customers.”
Andy Cooper, managing director of CrossCountry, added: “The early completion of the work is great news as we will again be able to provide through journeys by train for our long distance and local customers. We are grateful to Network Rail’s engineers for getting the line open again before the busy Easter holidays. The priority now is to rebuild our customers’ confidence in a reliable rail service, part of which will be the ongoing work to ensure such events are not repeated.”
Freightliner also welcomed the news, pointing out that the slip had caused 'substantial disruption'.
Network Rail said its engineers will remain at the site for several months yet, as work continues on the cutting and additional investigations of the surrounding area. Discussions will also take place with local people about the final landscaping of the area around the cutting.