Local people are passionate about the Dawlish line, and so am I.
This week has seen bad weather in the South West, and we in Teignbridge have not been immune. 60mph winds and high waves have battered our coastline, but it is important to place on the record that our railway line has coped well. Some reports in the media have, in my view, not been helpful, so I thought I would place a few facts on the record.
The Dawlish line has not closed at any point this week – 30mph speed restrictions were placed on the down line at some stages and some services were stopped from running between Exeter St David’s and Newton Abbot.
The sea wall held up well. A couple of coping stones became dislodged, but this is normal during such bad weather. These stones were not near to the main breach of February of this year.
Network Rail has a team solely tasked with day to day monitoring and minor repair of our stretch of track, and minor damage caused to the wall. I speak with Network Rail and First Great Western regularly. They are extremely focused on delivering a safe and reliable service via the Dawlish line.
The extreme weather we have seen this week only occurs 3-4 times a year, but the line did well. My thanks to all of the railway staff for their diligence and ongoing efforts.