The huge landslip at Hook in Hampshire on South Western Railway's main line from Waterloo to the West of England has been repaired, allowing all four lines to be reopened yesterday, Friday, 24th February.
The landslip happened after heavy rainfall in January caused part of an embankment near Hook to collapse, severely reducing the number of trains that could run on the line and trains towards Basingstoke were unable to call at Hook station.
Most services through the area were reinstated on 23rd January after engineers carried out a temporary repair by reconfiguring the track layout onto a stable section of the embankment, to enable more trains to run between Winchfield and Hook.
The landslip occurred in a remote location where, to get materials and machinery to the site, a 580-metre-long access road had to be laid across fields.
Normally, about 13 South Western Railway services run through the area every hour on a weekday morning, with services between London Waterloo and Basingstoke, Exeter St Davids, Portsmouth Harbour (via Eastleigh), Salisbury, Southampton Central, Winchester, and Weymouth. Immediately after the landslip, there was only one train every 90 minutes between Woking and Basingstoke.
Mark Killick, Network Rail's Wessex route director, said: “I'm pleased to say that all four lines have now reopened down in Hook and a full timetable has been reinstated.
“I'd like to say another huge thank you to customers and residents living alongside the railway for their patience while we've carried out this huge repair and our partners at SWR for working hand in hand with us to resolve the issue.
“Fixing the landslip at Hook has been an incredibly complex task and we know how disruptive this has been for our customers and we are really sorry for the impact this has had on your journeys.”
Claire Mann, South Western Railway's managing director, said: “We are pleased to confirm that all lines between Hook and Winchfield have now reopened, and we are operating our normal timetable again.
“We know how disruptive this has been for our customers and we are really sorry for the impact this has had on their journeys.
“Services have now returned to normal, and we would like to thank our customers for their patience whilst these essential repairs were carried out.”
Went past on the train over this past weekend. As well as a steel retaining wall, Network rail also seems to be driving soil nails to further stabilise the embankment, judging by a brief glimpse of the equipment as the train was passing.
Still a few weeks to go to finish the embankment with protective planting, making good the side (and a nearby work area).