Train line opens after landslip

Passenger trains linking two Essex towns are running again after the line was closed due to a landslip.

The line between Harwich and Manningtree was shut on 21 October when part of the embankment one mile east of Wrabness station began to deteriorate.

National Express East Anglia used replacement buses to cover the service.

Repairs were expected to finish around 9 November but work realigning power lines and tracks has already been completed ahead of schedule.

'Superhuman effort'

The embankment has also been strengthened.

A 656ft (200m) wall has been fixed in place and several hundred tonnes of granite shingle is being used to stabilise the embankment's foundations.

Network Rail had been using electronic sensors to monitor earth movement and discovered the landslip which caused the track and power lines to move.

Network Rail's Anglia route director Andrew Munden said: "A superhuman effort from everyone involved means the line is open almost a week early, which is no mean feat given the scale of the task."