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Wednesday 15 Aug 2018

Cross City line south reopens after tree removal and embankment repairs

Region & Route:

| North West & Central

The Cross City line between Birmingham New Street, Longbridge, Redditch and Bromsgrove has fully reopened.

On Tuesday (14 August) and overnight into today (15 August) two trees fell onto the line, damaging the overhead power lines. An assessment also found earth movement on the embankment, north of University station.

Engineers have removed both trees, cut back other vegetation, stabilised the embankment, fixed the damaged overhead power lines and completed their safety inspections.

The line reopened just after 9pm tonight (15 August).

While the line has reopened, there will be no services running this evening as trains and crew are out of position. It is hoped a full service will run from first thing on Thursday morning but there may be some disruption. Passengers are advised to check before they travel.

James Dean, chief operating officer for Network Rail’s London North Western route, said: “We did all we could to compete our surveys and repairs as quickly as possible and we’ve been able to give the all clear for the Cross City line to fully reopen.

“The embankment was saturated and we are investigating why but the cause of the earth movement is unknown at this stage. Our priority was to compete our safety checks, remove the trees and reopen the line as soon as possible.

“Thank you to passengers for their patience while we completed this emergency work - our advice is to check before you travel for the latest information.”

Richard Brooks, customer experience director for West Midlands Railway, said: “Now that the line has re-opened we will return our trains to their required positions and do all we can to run a full service from first thing tomorrow morning (16 August). We apologise for the disruption this week and advise that anyone affected should put in a claim for compensation through delay repay.”

The first tree fell late on Tuesday morning (14 August) and damaged the overhead power lines. Repairs were made and the line reopened late on Tuesday night – only for a second tree to fall and damage the power lines again shortly afterwards.

Repairs to the wires were made overnight but a survey of the land nearby revealed earth movement on the embankment.

For safety reasons, the railway remained closed while repairs took place.

Passengers can check for information at www.nationalrail.co.uk.