Limited rail service to resume after landslip

A limited rail service between Shropshire and Birmingham is expected to resume on Monday - but it will not travel the full route.

A landslip between Wellington and Oakengates closed the line last week and Network Rail said it could remain shut until 25 March.

West Midlands Railway said the temporary service would not be able to call at Shrewsbury, Wellington, Oakengates or Telford and would instead start and end at Shifnal.

The company has not yet said how many services it can run.

On Wednesday, commuters using a bus service put on to replace the trains complained there were not enough coaches to meet demand and passengers were being left behind.

West Midlands Railway said it had put on extra services to try to increase capacity.

Network Rail, which is responsible for repairing the affected line, said about 5,000 tonnes of material had slipped as a result of recent heavy rainfall.

Adam Checkley, the company's regional infrastructure director, apologised to passengers and said the line would be shut while repairs were carried out.

He said his team was "desperately trying to get this open for the Easter weekend".

Mr Checkley said after the railway line was closed on Friday the first job had been to clear a wooded area the size of three football pitches, so machinery could be brought onto site.

Over the coming weeks 12,000 tonnes of stone will be brought in to repair the embankment, which stands 17m (56ft) tall.

Mr Checkley said a project of this scale would normally take up to three years to plan and 16 weeks to carry out, but it was being condensed into a few weeks, to get the line open again.

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