Buses ferried passengers to Mitcham, with the service still operating to the city, the Department of Transport now saying it has cleared the track for safe travel.

Department for Infrastructure and Transport Chief Executive Jon Whelan is providing an update this afternoon.

The blockage was on a section between Coromandel Valley and Blackwood stations with a spokesperson telling ABC Radio Adelaide that while rocks can “normally be cleared quite quickly”, this incident is “a bit more significant”.

Bowman indicated that an excavator was needed to remove larger rocks.