THE railway line between Newport and Gloucester has reopened today after weeks of 24/7 work on landslip-prone cliffs.

The Severn Estuary line has today (Friday, August 18) reopened after three weeks of 24/7 work to mitigate the impact of weather-related landslips.

The work will, Network Rail say, "improve train performance, reduce delays, and ensure the highest level of reliability for passengers and freight services". 

More than 100 engineers from Network Rail and principal contractor, AmcoGiffen, along with their strategic partner QTS Group, worked around the clock, from Monday, July 31, to Friday, August 18.

Work included the installation of an ‘active’ mesh system on the cliffs overlooking the exposed railway between Monmouthshire and Gloucestershire. 

The teams worked more than 34,000 hours, with trained specialist rope access technicians abseiling down the cliff face, removing 1,000 tonnes of loose material before securing the specially designed netting with 5,000 rock bolts.

This bespoke ‘active’ system will hold the cliff face in position and help to prevent landslips from damaging, and subsequently, closing the railway.

This section of railway was hit by three landslips in January 2023 alone, following a bout of prolonged heavy rainfall, which has led to a huge financial and disruptive impact. 

To safely run trains following the recent landslips, Network Rail imposed a temporary speed restriction of 20mph – reduced from the normal line speed of 75mph.

This has caused nearly 6,000 delay minutes, costing more than £400,000 of taxpayers’ money.  

The completion of this next phase means the speed restriction can now be removed.  

Nick Millington, route director for Network Rail Wales & Borders, said: “The new mesh installed on a different section of the cliff, last Summer, has had zero landslips that have impacted the railway.  

“We will be coming back to carry out more resilience work to further future proof this line against the challenging effects of climate change.  

“I would like to thank passengers and the local community for their patience while we carried out these vital improvements.”