Network Rail says the railway between Bradford and Ilkley will reopen to traffic on 30 June, after it had been blocked by a landslip for almost five months.

The slippage at Baildon on 9 February meant that specialist road rail vehicles and other equipment had to be brought in to stabilise the land by removing more than 1,800 tonnes of earth, but the ‘complex environment‘ meant that the original reopening date of mid-March could not be achieved.

Wet weather also hampered progress, and it emerged in late March that two houses near the slip had become unsafe and would have to be demolished. At this point Network Rail revised its expected reopening date to the end of June.

Network Rail North & East route director Jason Hamilton said: ‘I know this has been a difficult time for the community and I want to say a heartfelt thank you to all impacted local residents for their support and cooperation throughout our work.

‘I also want to say thank you to passengers who have faced disruption to rail services for their patience and understanding of the situation.’

Northern provided rail replacement buses between Bradford Forster Square and Ilkley while the line was closed.

The operator’s regional director Kerry Peters added: ‘I’d like to thank our customers for their patience while this complicated and safety-critical work was carried out by Network Rail. We appreciate it has caused significant disruption to people’s journeys and we are very happy to be able to resume services along the line once again.’