Engineers 'working round the clock' to fix Nuneham viaduct

Engineers are working round the clock to repair an unsafe viaduct, Network Rail has said.

Nuneham Viaduct, which crosses the River Thames near Abingdon, Oxfordshire, shut on 3 April.

The closure on the Didcot-Oxford line means more than 100 passenger services a day are being cancelled.

A jetty is being built in the River Thames to hold it up so the end of the bridge can be rebuilt. It is hoped the line will reopen from 10 June.

CrossCountry, Great Western Railway services and also freight trains to and from Southampton Docks use the viaduct, which carries the rail line over the River Thames.

Buses are replacing trains for passengers adding about 40 mins to journey times.

The 40 freight trains that run on the route each day are travelling into Acton in west London and then on to the Chilterns.

Network Rail said: "We're working round the clock so trains can safely run again.

"Our engineers are replacing the southern support structure, providing a long-term fix to the viaduct."

Work to date has seen the rail tracks taken up and steel piles driven into the river bed.

Stuart Calvert, from Network Rail, said: "If we were planning a job like this we'd normally spend two or three years planning and designing it.

"This is a complex job with difficult engineering - we're going to have to work in the river to support the bridge and then rebuild the abutment."

The track operator said the viaduct failed despite recent repairs and following the wettest March in more than 30 years.

Travellers are being urged to check their journeys before they travel.

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