PASSENGERS have been thanked for their patience after a railway line reopened following a seven-day closure.
The Cross City Line was shut between Lichfield and Birmingham was shut to allow for maintenance work to take place on the A38(M) Tame Valley Viaduct which runs above the route in Aston.
During the closure, Network Rail teams also carried out earthwork repairs, track maintenance and cut back vegetation.
Among the areas targeted was a ten-metre high sandstone cutting near Lichfield whihc saw loose blocks and trees removed.
Denise Wetton, Network Rail’s Central route director, said:
“This essential maintenance between Birmingham and Lichfield will help to make journeys safer and more reliable.
“It was carefully planned to cause the least disruption and we completed a huge amount of different improvements to make the most of the line being closed.
“We know there is never a good time for any closure, and I’d like to thank passengers for their patience over the last seven days.”
Jonny Wiseman, West Midlands Railway’s customer experience director, said:
“We are grateful for our passengers’ patience while important engineering works were carried out over the past week.
“We’re pleased the line has now reopened as planned and our normal timetable is now back in operation.”
The original closure was needed to install an HS2 viaduct, with the other work planned to make the most of the line being closed – but the high speed rail work will now be carried out at a later date.
