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April date for Dawlish reopening

The railway in Dawlish will reopen in mid-April, Network Rail has announced.

The schedule of repairs has been calculated after last weekend’s storm caused further extensive damage. The hole in the sea wall has got larger, and work depends on the weather.

Engineers have since laid concrete foundation into the main breach and the secondary breach at Dawlish Warren, and have started work on repairing the station platform and cleaning debris throughout the coastal route.

A temporary breakwater has also been installed to protect the railway and homes from further damage.

Patrick Hallgate, route managing director, Network Rail Western said: “We are all conscious of the importance of this railway to the south west, its economy and the people of Dawlish. They have been tremendous in supporting our team and understanding of the challenges we face. We are confident that we will have the railway back by mid-April and if we can we will beat that date.”

Mark Hopwood, managing director First Great Western, said: “This will allow us to restore through train services linking London and Exeter with Torbay, Plymouth and Cornwall. We appreciate Network Rail's efforts to work round the clock to get the line reopen so we can resume services for customers as soon as possible.

“Until the line reopens we are running train services between Exeter and London and between Newton Abbot and Penzance with bus services linking these to keep our passengers moving.

“We will be ready to run services once Network Rail completes the work and until then we will do everything we can to minimise disruption to our customers' journeys.”

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