Severn Valley Railway has announced that it can now move ahead with repairs to the landslip it suffered at Mor Brook bridge in late January. This follows a decision by the heritage line’s insurers to settle its claim in respect of the incident.

The insurers have agreed to pay for the full reinstatement of the bridge’s wing wall and stone arch as well as the embankment itself. The railway says that the final costs will be significantly more than half a million pounds.

SVR’s Managing Director, Jonathan ‘Gus’ Dunster explained more: "We are delighted with this decision by our insurers, which means we can now move ahead with fixing things. Nevertheless, the SVR is still going to be responsible for funding a substantial excess as part of the settlement.

"We are still in negotiation with the insurers about the exact amount, but thanks to the generous donations that supporters have made to the SVR Resilience Fund and the SVR Charitable Trust since the landslip, we are confident that we will be able to cover this.

"What’s important here is that our insurance company’s acceptance of the claim means we will not have to launch a full-scale appeal for the landslip repairs, which would have meant further delays before we could put things right."

Timescale is unknown at this point.

In conjunction with its insurers, the SVR has appointed civil engineering contractors CML to carry out all the works required at Mor Brook to reinstate the line. The railway’s infrastructure management and permanent way teams will be working with CML to provide logistical support and carry out work related to the track.

The SVR is currently operating along the 12-mile stretch of its line between Kidderminster and Hampton Loade. It will hold two major enthusiast events over the coming weeks; the Spring Steam Gala between 18 and 21 April, and the Spring Diesel Festival between 15 and 18 May.

And staff are gearing up for the extended Easter holiday season, with services operating from 12 to 27 April. However, the line is closed to the public on 14 and 25 April.

For more information on events and tickets, please visit the Easter Adventures page