THE railway line between Farnham and Alton will close for a further two days this spring as Network Rail completes its permanent embankment repairs at Wrecclesham.

Since last August, the rail authority has invested more than £4 million in securing the embankment with a wall of rock baskets and then rebuilding it using 8,000 tonnes of material.

In addition, Network Rail’s ‘orange army’ of workers have also built in a new drainage system to allow surface water to flow away more easily.

It comes after the line was closed for three weeks in April and May, 2016, after train drivers spotted a dangerous landslip between Farnham and Bentley stations.

Owen Johns, a spokesperson for Network Rail, said: “Rebuilding the embankment at Wrecclesham following the landslip that occurred last April has been an enormous task.

“We completed this work in December, and it’s a huge step towards returning services to normal, but there’s still some more work to do.

“In order to re-open the line as quickly as possible in April 2016, we had to shift the track over to the other side of the embankment, and as a result trains have run more slowly along this section through some tight turns.

“We are planning to move the track back over to the original side of the embankment in the spring, which will allow trains to run at their normal speed again.

“Moving the track back over will require two further one-day closures of the line in early spring, but we will time the work to keep disruption to passengers to a minimum.

“We’ll be keeping passengers and our neighbours updated and I’d like to thank them for their patience over the last eight months.”