Train line could face 'disruption' for the rest of the month after landslip

The Wolverhampton to Shrewsbury section of rail line was closed yesterday after a land slip was discovered at Wellington.

Pictures of the area of track affected showed a large section of the bank which appeared to have fallen away.

The situation caused chaos for commuters with trains terminating at Wolverhampton or Shrewsbury – depending on which route passengers were travelling.

Replacement buses were put in place.

Coincidently the same stretch of line was scheduled to be closed this weekend for 'pre-planned' engineering work – with replacement buses again covering the stretch between Shrewsbury and Wolverhampton, today and tomorrow.

But, according to an update posted on Network Rail's website this morning, the time-frame for a fix could be considerably longer – warning of "disruption" potentially until Thursday, March 28.

The update said: "A landslip has been found in the Wellington area.

"Network Rail will be looking to rectify the issue from Monday, March 11, until the end of the day Thursday, March 28.

"As a result of this, trains running between Shrewsbury and Wolverhampton may be cancelled, delayed or revised."

The closure was first reported at around 6.54am on Friday and then revealed to passengers at 10.36am, with train firms announcing on social media they were "investigating a track issue near Wellington which means we have stopped trains running".

An update shortly after from Network Rail said: “We’re sorry to passengers affected by ongoing disruption between Shrewsbury and Wolverhampton due to a landslip west of Oakengates station in Telford which occurred this morning. For safety reasons our engineers have closed the railway in both directions while assessments take place to understand the scale of repairs needed."

To follow the latest updates on the disruption visit https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/status-and-disruptions/