Network Rail has completed repair work on the 170-year-old Royal Border Bridge on the East Coast Main Line in Berwick-upon-Tweed.

The work has taken nearly eighteen months, as engineers worked to repair the bridge’s twenty-eight arches.

The forty-metre bridge spans the River Tweed and carries both passenger and freight trains between Scotland and England.

As the work progressed, Network Rail took the opportunity to carry out additional work to strengthen the bridge.

It used a rope access system rather than building scaffolding, saving around five million pounds on the total cost of the project and allowed the bridge to stay open to rail traffic during the work.

Engineers last worked on the structure in 1993.

Network Rail worked closely with Historic England to ensure that the bridge’s brickwork is in keeping with the the structure’s heritage.

Jon Calvert, Principal Portfolio Manager at Network Rail, said: “It is great that this major project to restore the iconic Royal Border Bridge has now been completed.

“By working innovatively, we’ve managed to make major savings and keep a vital part of the railway open to passengers during the programme of work. The repairs will mean that we won’t need to complete any major maintenance work for the next thirty years and I’m delighted that the bridge is back to its former glory.”