RAIL passengers returning to work on Tuesday were greeted by news that the Alton to Farnham line had been re-opened, six days earlier than originally planned.

The line had been closed since April 13 following a landslip at Wrecclesham.

The landslip was discovered on April 1, when specialist engineers were called in by Network Rail to inspect and stabilise the embankment on the Farnham side of Bentley, leading to a 20mph speed restriction.

But a further inspection on April 13 revealed further subsidence on the embankment beneath the track and, with heavy rain forecast overnight, the decision was taken to close the line as a safety precaution.

Since then Network Rail’s ‘orange army’ has been working round the clock to stabilise the 250-metre stretch of track by drilling reinforcing ‘piles’ eight metres into the ground.

John Halsall, Network Rail’s route managing director, said: “Our engineers faced an enormous task to bring the railway safely back into use as quickly as possible, and they really have delivered by stabilising one side of the embankment and shifting the track onto that side.

“Now that we’ve overcome the first hurdle, our attention will turn to providing a permanent solution and re-building the whole embankment from the bottom up.”

While the original estimated re-opening time was given as May 9, Mr Halsall has paid tribute to the on-site team for getting ahead of the game.

“It’s quite remarkable that our engineers have managed to re-open the Farnham to Alton line almost a week early when you consider the scale of the landslip and the work that was required just to make the site accessible and safe for working,” he said.

“Two-and-a-half weeks ago this was just an empty field, but now we have a fully-operational site compound working day and night to get this problem sorted.”

At a cost so far exceeding £500,000 for repairs to the Wrecclesham landslip, the challenge now is to find a permanent solution.

The work so far was part of a £33m May Day weekend programme of upgrades across the southern rail network, including track and crossing upgrades.

Mr Halsall said: “I am delighted that we have delivered another bank holiday weekend of upgrades that will make a real difference to passengers across the south, providing them with better and more reliable journeys.”

And he added: “I’d like to say a big thank you to all of our line-side neighbours and passengers for their tremendous patience while we have upgraded the railway, particularly those at Wrecclesham, whose patience and understanding has been fundamental to us completing this job so quickly.”

Throughout the disruption, South West Trains has run a bus replacement service, ferrying passengers between Alton and Farnham stations and Bentley village in a bid to keep the service going.