Part of the railway between Oxford and Worcester is closed whilst Network Rail make repairs to a bridge after a wall collapsed and a landslip occurred at Yarnton.

On Friday evening (10th February), a side wing wall on a road-over-rail bridge at Yarnton in Oxfordshire collapsed onto the railway line.

Whilst Network Rail was on site immediately to repair damage, subsequent landslips have occurred and means the railway line is closed.

The landslide has also exposed a gas main and work is required to protect the pipeline and ground around it.

Engineers from Network Rail and Balfour Beatty are working to design and install sheet piling to act as a retaining wall to support the wall and road to make it safe to complete longer term repairs.

The sheet piling wall is to be installed from Friday 17th February and once this is in place, engineers can work to reopen the railway under a speed limit from Wednesday 22nd February.

Until the railway can reopen, the following service amendments are in place:

• London to Worcester trains at peak times will divert via Swindon
• Rail replacement bus services will operate between Oxford and Kingham, calling at Hanborough, Charlbury and Kingham
• A shuttle train service will operate between Worcester / Great Malvern and Charlbury for onward travel to Kingham.

Nicky Hughes from Network Rail, said: “We have been working closely with our specialist civil engineers and Southern Gas Networks to identify the best plan to stabilise the ground to support the embankment and road over it as quickly and safely as possible.

“We have now agreed the supporting structures that need to be put in place, and later this week, once we have the detailed designs, we’ll be on site to erect substantial sheet piling to provide a retaining wall to support the ground above.

“When we are confident that it’s safe to do so, we will reopen the railway under a precautionary speed limit on Wednesday 22 February, which our teams will be working tirelessly to achieve.

“We’d like to thank passengers and the local community around Yarnton for their patience, and GWR for providing rail replacement bus services for passengers between Oxford and Kingham.”