A railway company has thanked customers for their patience after a line was closed for emergency repairs following a landslip.

Network Rail has apologised for the disruption caused to customers after the railway between London Marylebone, Oxford and the Midlands was closed for two days while engineers rebuilt an embankment following a landslip.

Normal services on the Chiltern Railways line resumed this morning (January 16).

The landslip occurred on Thursday, January 11, when 1,200 tonnes of earth moved from a railway embankment in the village of Launton, Bicester, following a period of "persistent and heavy rainfall" which weakened the earth below it.

Bucks Free Press:

READ MORE: Recap: M25 lane reopens after crash near Denham

Despite only two tracks being affected by the landslip, engineers closed the line entirely to ensure full and safe repairs before reinstating the mainline and freight services.

Contractors worked round-the-clock on Sunday, January 14, and Monday, January 15, to drive 65 new steel piles into the ground near the affected section of the track, with around 3,000 tonnes of ballast used to rebuild the embankment.

On Sunday, a representative for Chiltern Railways "strongly advised" passengers not to travel or to use alternative routes wherever possible.

Bucks Free Press:

Speaking today, Richard Allen, Managing Director for Chiltern Railways, apologised to customers for the "significant disruption" caused by the emergency works.

Mr Allen said: "I am grateful for the hard work of all our railway colleagues to plan and complete a major repair in less than five days and operate a heavily changed timetable while the work was taking place.

"I am really pleased that the Chiltern main line is now fully reopened and that we have returned to our usual timetable."