THE railway between Leamington Spa and Banbury has reopened today - only for signal failure to cause heavy delays.

The line has reopened three weeks early after it was forced to shut due to a 350,000 tonne landslip on January.

Mark Carne, chief executive of Network Rail, said: “The reopening of the railway, three weeks ahead of schedule, is welcome news for passengers and freight operators.

“It is also a testament to the hard work of hundreds of people who have worked 24 hours a day to make it possible.”

Network Rail also this morning released this timelapse video of the work being carried out.

The area has suffered from landslips since it was built more than 150 years ago.

Network Rail will remove more than 300,000 tonnes of material to regrade the slope of the cutting to make it more stable.

But passengers hoping to use the direct services connecting Oxford and the north faced further frustrations. There is a signal failure in Birmingham, meaning delays of about half an hour.