The challenging emergency repair of Nuneham Viaduct has seen Network Rail engineers work intensively through day and night in order to complete the project, completing impressively, one day early.

The early finish enabled passengers to get back on the move sooner than expected with the first passenger service crossing the viaduct today (9th June) as Great Western Railway operated a shuttle train between Oxford and Didcot.

The full timetable is set to resume on Saturday the 10th of June.

The project saw both Network Rail engineers and contractors Balfour Beatty complete the complex repairs whilst the rail industry, including Great Western Railway, Chiltern Railways and CrossCountry, worked together in order to keep passengers on the move through the 10-week project.

Monday the 3rd of April saw the railway between Didcot and Oxford closed following the discovery of significant movement of Nuneham Viaduct. The movement was caused due to structural issues at the south bank abutment, which was part of the original viaduct built back in 1856.

The vast project has seen 800 people work over 60,000 hours to install a new steel support which will maintain the future of this vital railway structure into the future.

The final week of the project saw:

• The 150-tonne bridge lowered onto the new abutment
• A new embankment built
• Railway tracks and cables returned

The repair project has seen heavy engineering work employed and has required a multifaceted approach in order to deal with the complexities of the project, including:

• 24 x 15m long steel piles driven into the bed of the River Thames in order to build a solid platform for the temporary structure to support the weight of the viaduct whilst the abutment was demolished and rebuilt.
• Eight further piles driven up to 20m into the embankment in order to support the new structure.
• A 750-tonne crane used to lift the temporary structure into place.
• 4,500 tonnes of material removed from the old embankment
• 5,500 tonnes of material returned to build the new embankment

Whilst the project has completed its aim to see passengers returned to the rails, engineers will remain on site for up to a further 12 weeks in order to complete works and demobilise the construction site. This work will be completed whilst the railway is not operating and also whilst track, signalling and station upgrades are underway in Oxford and will take place from Saturday the 29th of July and will complete during the early hours of Monday the 7th of August.

The project in Oxford will see Network Rail carry out track upgrades north of Oxford Station, alongside the installation of new high-speed crossovers. To the south of Oxford Station, Osney Lane footbridge will undergo modifications as one of its piers will be moved in order to accommodate changes to track layout whilst further work will also be undertaken to alter the coping stones on platforms inside the station.

Network Rail capital delivery director Stuart Calvert said: “We’re extremely pleased to be able to reopen the railway through Nuneham, ahead of schedule, on Friday 09 June.”

“A complex and challenging repair like this would normally take two to three years to complete, but thanks to the hard work and dedication of our talented teams of engineers, and industry experts, this major project has been turned around in just under ten weeks.”

“Once again, I would like to thank our passengers, freight customers, local community and our industry partners for their patience, understanding and support whilst we carried out this work, which will protect this important rail link for generations to come.”

Mark Hopwood, Managing Director at Great Western Railway, said: “We’re delighted Network Rail has been able to finish its work ahead of schedule and we have been able to reintroduce services between Oxford and Didcot. We look forward to welcoming people back and thank them for their patience and understanding over the past two months.”

“This is a crucial part of our network and I’d like to thank our colleagues at Network Rail and fellow train operators for their support and hard work throughout this difficult period. I’d also like to thank GWR colleagues who have gone above and beyond to keep customers on the move.”

Elizabeth Jackson, Customer Service Manager for the West & Wales at CrossCountry said: “We’re very pleased the line has now reopened, which is good news for customers.”

“We worked collaboratively with industry colleagues to ensure customers were impacted as little as possible and, now Network Rail’s work is complete, CrossCountry customers will benefit from direct connectivity from Reading and Oxford to the Midlands and North East, from Saturday 10 June.”

Richard Allan, Managing Director at Chiltern Railways, said: “We are relieved that repairs to the Nuneham Viaduct have been completed after a challenging two months for customers.”

“Chiltern has allocated 4,000 additional seats to its route between London and Oxford every weekday since 17 April – moving capacity from other routes to Oxford – to try and meet the significant increase in demand caused by the closure of the Paddington route.”

“We know that our services have been busier than usual because of the viaduct closure, and thank our customers for their patience.”

Huw Merriman MP, Minister of State for Rail said: “It’s welcome news that services will return for rail passengers and commuters in Oxfordshire, after what has been a disruptive couple of months.”

“I would like to thank travellers and freight operators for their patience as well as Network Rail for carrying out this essential work so efficiently.”