Recovery and repair work has concluded on a major railway line in Bedfordshire, a week after a fatal collision involving two trains.
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Network Rail confirmed the completion of the "complex" operation on the Midland Main Line (MML) in Elstow, near Bedford, following the tragic incident on 19 June.
The crash saw train driver Shaun Burton lose his life and 162 other people sustain injuries, many life-threatening, when two East Midlands Railway (EMR) services collided.
The extensive recovery effort necessitated the dismantling of overhead line equipment, the construction of a temporary access road across a field, and the deployment of two 110-tonne cranes to remove the damaged trains from the tracks.
Engineers have since carried out repairs to the track, signalling systems, and overhead line equipment, paving the way for services to resume.
The MML has remained closed between Luton and Bedford since the crash, causing significant disruption to both EMR and Thameslink services.
Passengers have been advised to factor in at least an hour of additional travel time for certain journeys.
Planned engineering work between London St Pancras and Bedford will go ahead this weekend, with all lines between these stations closed.
That means services between Luton and Bedford will not resume until Monday.
Mark Budden, East Midlands route director for Network Rail, said: “This has been a complex and challenging recovery operation, and I’d like to thank our engineers and colleagues across the railway for the professionalism, skill and dedication they’ve shown in safely completing the work as quickly as possible to get passengers moving again.
“With repairs now complete, we will be able to reopen the Midland Main Line on Monday.”
EMR acknowledged the disruption of the past week “has had a significant impact on our customers”, while Thameslink’s parent company Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) said the recovery work was “the result of a truly remarkable effort”.
On Thursday, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander spoke to rail staff and first responders to the train crash to thank them for their “heroic” actions and pay tribute to their “courage and continued professionalism”.
This included staff and volunteers from the Salvation Army, GTR, the British Transport Police, EMR, East of England Ambulance Service, Network Rail and the Red Cross.
An interim report published by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch on Wednesday found Shaun Burton – the 60-year-old train driver killed in the 49mph crash – passed a red signal moments before the collision.
The train he was driving smashed into the back of a stationary train.