Following a week long blockade of the line between Amersham and Aylesbury the line reopened on Tuesday 5 March, with passengers and lineside residents being thanked by Network Rail for their patience as emergency repairs were carried out.

The work undertaken was to stabilise an embankment which had caused a landslip during the prolonged period of heavy rain that fell in mid to late February, which lead to the earth becoming weak and eventually causing it to move.

It was on Tuesday 27 February that a track defect was identified by engineers on one of the double track lines north of Stoke Mandeville, which saw one of them closed to all trains.

Initial inspection showed roughly 5,000 tonnes of material had moved along a 20 metre section of track.

The work undertaken involved using nine-metre-long ‘Soil Nails’ of which 120 were needed to add stability to the affected embankment, before trains could resume running.

Adam Checkley, infrastructure director for Network Rail, said: “I’m really sorry to passengers and local people affected by the landslip at Stoke Mandeville while we completed repairs to the track and embankment. I’m pleased to advise that we’ve fully reopened the track this morning which means passengers can once again travel between Aylesbury and London Marylebone via Amersham. The repair work involved our engineers working very closely to nearby residents gardens so I want to thank them for their patience along with passengers whose journeys were impacted.”

Tony Baxter, operations director at Chiltern Railways, said: “I’d like to thank our customers for their patience and understanding over the last week as Network Rail worked at pace to repair the railway following a landslip near Stoke Mandeville. We’re pleased to say that the line between Aylesbury, Amersham and London Marylebone is now fully reopen. While these complex repairs have been taking place, we’ve been diverting services where possible, and where this hasn’t been possible, keeping people on the move with rail replacement bus services. I’m sorry for the disruption that this closure has caused customers, and glad that we are able to return to our normal timetable.”

Passengers should check www.nationalrail.co.uk for the latest travel advice.