Full rail service to be resumed after landslide

Normal services on the route linking South Yorkshire with London, Nottingham and Birmingham will resume on Saturday from 8am. Network Rail said work to stabilise the hill at Unstone had been completed three weeks ahead of schedule.

Route managing director Phil Verster said: “The work completed so far has prioritised making the track safe so that trains can run but work to fully stabilise the hillside will continue for several months yet. Trains will run at a slightly reduced speed past the worksite but this will not significantly affect journey times.”

Round-the-clock work by 300 engineers to repair the railway at Dawlish in Devon, damaged in the St Valentine’s Day storm, means it will re-open on April 4, two weeks earlier than planned, officials revealed yesterday.

The route linking services to Plymouth and Cornwall will now be open in time for Easter. The main 100-yard seafront breach is being repaired with nearly 5,000 tonnes of concrete and 150 tonnes of steel, and a new 200-yard track is ready for installation.