Rail tunnel collapse line opens

Investigators report the Gerrards Cross tunnel design is "safe"

A busy commuter rail route has reopened seven weeks after a tunnel collapse.

The line through Gerrards Cross in Bucks was closed on 30 June when a tunnel collapsed next to where a new Tesco store was under construction.

Allan Spence from the Health and Safety Executive was "confident" he now understood how the collapse happened.

"The part of the tunnel which fell down was linked to the way the material was being placed over the tunnel ground," said railway inspector Mr Spence.

"So we're confident we understand why that part failed," he added.

The line, which has now been declared safe, serves commuters into London from the Chilterns area and is also an inter-city link to the Midlands.

Reconstruction work has been carried out over the past seven weeks and experts have investigated the construction site.