A railway line running from Worcester to a major UK city has reopened following a landslip.

The line connecting Worcester to Oxford is up and running again after repairs by Network Rail.

A side wing wall of the road over the historic rail bridge at Yarnton, near Oxford, collapsed into the rail line due to a landslip on the evening of Friday, February 10.

Network Rail workers began fixing the damage and installing protective barriers before further landslips caused in the embankment by the bridge meant the railway between Oxford and Kingham had to be closed.

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.”

The landslide left the ground “extremely unstable” and posed a “significant risk to the stability” of the road and utilities in the road.

It also exposed a gas main which made repair works more complex.

Network Rail engineers arrived at the site early last week to conduct investigations.

Working with contractors Balfour Beatty, the engineers began installing metal sheet piles, as well as 22 soil nails, on Friday evening and worked over the weekend and into this start of this week to complete the work.

As a result, this stretch of railway reopened on Wednesday, February 11, with the first service being the 5.10am from Oxford to Moreton.

A 20mph temporary speed restriction will remain in place and a watchman will be positioned on site until Network Rail has completed the second phase of longer-term repairs to reinforce the structure and ground.

Construction for this phase of work is due to begin at the end of next week and is expected to take a couple of weeks to complete which will be carried out overnight when no services are running to avoid disrupting passengers.

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.