4:24pm Tuesday 16th January 2007
More than 400 passengers on a train which was derailed when it hit a landslide on a busy commuter line were evacuated to Purley station at the weekend.
It is thought recent heavy rain may have caused tonnes of earth to fall from a 70-foot embankment on to the rails - causing one carriage to leave the tracks at Merstham tunnel, between Redhill and Coulsdon South at around 12.20pm on Saturday.
Train operator Southern said only the front set of wheels of the 10.59am Bognor to London Victoria service left the track when it hit the earth.
None of the 413 passengers were injured but services were severely disrupted for the rest of the weekend as engineers inspected the scene.
The train was removed by engineers late on Saturday but the line remained shut on Sunday. A bus replacement service was operating but services began returning to normal on Monday.
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