Train services still disrupted after landslip near Wanborough last week
The embankment started to slide after heavy rain during Storm Bella
Last updated 4th Jan 2021
Train services continue to be disrupted between Guildford and Ash, following a landslide near Wanborough after heavy rain during Storm Bella last week.
Network Rail are still working to fix the damage, after the embankment started to slip near the Westwood Lane bridge on 27 December.
Network Rail Southern region's route asset manager for geotechnics, Derek Butcher, described what happened:
"The railway near Wanborough is built from clay, which is not a material we would build railways on these days, but our Victorian ancestors weren’t so advanced with their knowledge of soil mechanics.
"Clay absorbs water like a sponge and once it reaches saturation - where it can’t absorb any more - it loses its strength.
"In this case part of it has moved out from underneath the weight of the railway embankment, what we call a rotational failure, and the track has dipped down above it."
Engineers are stabilising the slope by sinking a wall of steel into the ground, to prevent earth below the embankment from moving any further.
It is hoped that it will be ready for trains to run again from Wednesday 6 January.
South Western Railway services between Guildford and Farnham are affected, as well as Great Western Railway services from Reading which are terminating at Ash.
Tickets are being accepted on local bus routes between Ash and Aldershot, and Guilford and Farnham.
There is also a rail replacement bus service between North Camp, Guildford and Redhill for onward connections.
Customers travelling between Gatwick and Reading can also use Gatwick Express services to London Victoria for London Underground connection to Paddington.
Mark Killick, Network Rail Wessex route director, has apologised to rail users and local residents for the disruption, saying "engineers have been working around the clock to shore up the railway and we’re not able to run trains while the work goes on."
He said updates would be shared on social media channels - and he advised people using trains to check with South Western Railway and Great Western Railway to see how their journies are being affected.