The central part of the Heart of Wales line reopened this week after Network Rail completed a huge repair project after storm damage at Llandrindod Wells in August.
Storm Francis caused multiple landslips with 3,000 tonnes of cuttings, embankments and track being damaged during the storm.
Engineers have worked to replace over 4,500 tonnes of material, which was brought in by train and restored half a mile of track and ballast.
Network Rail has also installed CCTV to monitor water levels and installed half a mile of fencing.
Work continues at Llangennech to reopen the Heart of Wales line after a freight train derailment and fire, this section of line will reopen in the new year.
Bill Kelly, Network Rail's Wales route director, said: “I am really proud of our engineers who worked tirelessly to repair the damage and to reopen the Heart of Wales line as quickly as possible.
“They have completed a mammoth task, and we are extremely pleased to reopen the line and to begin serving all of the communities who rely on this route.
“In terms of Llangenech, we are continuing to work with Natural Resources Wales and Alan and Adler, our environmental specialist, to decontaminate the site and to minimise environmental impact.”
Alexia Course, rail operations director, Transport for Wales said: “On behalf of everyone at TfW, I'd like to thank our colleagues in Network Rail for their hard work in repairing the Heart of Wales Line between Llandrindod and Craven Arms. The completion of the work has allowed us to reinstate a limited rail service from 3 November.
“I'd also like to thank customers for their patience while services have been disrupted and ask that they continue to check services online. We will continue to provide transport links using replacement buses between Swansea and Llandrindod. Our services in Wales are currently in place for essential journeys only, due to the ongoing ‘firebreak' lockdown throughout Wales until Monday 9 November.”
Lisa Denison, development manager for the Heart of Wales Line, added: “A big thank you to Network Rail teams who have done a tremendous job repairing the line and improving the long-term resilience of this stretch of the railway.
“The investment that has been brought forward will help to protect this important line. The communities along The Heart of Wales Line have been very hard hit by recent line closures and reduced services, and the knock-on effect has been massive.
“That is why we are so delighted to have the northern section back open and to see trains running again – it's what the towns and villages need right now. “
Chris Howchin, capital delivery programme manager for Network Rail Wales, commented: “We understand how important the Heart of Wales line is to our local communities, so we reacted swiftly to the devastation after storm Francis on the 12 August.
“I would like to thank the teams for the hard work in some very poor conditions, our passengers for their patience and our lineside neighbours for their helpful support whilst we put the network back together.”
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Massive achievement from Network Rail to keep the railways running.
As always well done Network Rail.
The line is actually open all the way (south) to Pontarddulais with units running ecs from Llandrindod to Llanwrtyd, and passengers (those few there are!) being turfed off at Llandrindod onto a bus or minibus for their journey to points south which arrives at Llanwrtyd about 45 minutes after the ecs! Why?
Given a choice between staying on a 153 or 150 and a minibus for the remaining part of the journey, which do you think you are more likely to catch Covid-19 on?