between and was closed. Buses were laid on to replace passenger trains between those stations, with the journey taking more than 6 hours. The A4138 road was closed, to be reopened by midday, and the B4297 was also closed. Local road disruption was expected to last for several days. This was the first major accident involving a tanker train fire in the United Kingdom since the Summit Tunnel fire on 20 December 1984, and the second derailment and fire in two weeks, following the Stonehaven derailment. The derailment destroyed track over a distance of and also destroyed signalling cables in the area. On 6 September, it was claimed by Member of the Senedd and Deputy Transport Minister Lee Waters that the railway could be closed until December 2020. NR subsequently said the line would be closed until January 2021. It eventually reopened on 8 March 2021, seven months after the derailment. NRW said a significant volume of diesel had been spilled. Some of this flowed into the River Loughor, whose estuary is a designated SSSI and a wildlife conservation area. Work to contain the spill commenced on 28 August. Local cockle and other shellfish picking was suspended following the spill on advice from the Food Standards Agency. By 1 September, diesel had spread as far as Crofty, Glamorgan, about from the site of the derailment. Shellfish picking resumed in mid-October. Work to remove of contaminated soil from the site began in December. The undamaged wagons were removed from the site on 31 August. Those at the front of the train were taken to Margam, whilst those at the rear were taken to Llandeilo Junction. Work to recover the derailed wagons started on 1 September, with the aim of recovering two wagons a day. Two of the derailed wagons were cut up in situ. The rest were lifted by a rail crane and removed by road, with the last wagon being removed on 8 September. By 1 February 2021, the clean-up operation was nearing completion, with the work scheduled to be complete by the end of February. NRW said that the recovery operation was the most challenging event since the Sea Empress oil spill in 1996. Monitoring of the area affected by the oil spill would continue until 2026. The line was reopened on 8 March 2021 after a total of 37,500 hours of repair and environmental protection work. Some 30,000