Trains Are Running Through Dawlish Again – but the Replacement Bus Was Quicker - Home News - UK -...

7/27/2019 Trains Are Running Through Dawlish Again – but the Replacement Bus Was Quicker - Home News - UK - The Independent

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8 24/04/2014 20:06



“Ladies and gentlemen, the station you’ve all been waiting for,”

announced the guard aboard the 5.34am train from Exeter St

David’s. “Dawlish will be the next stop.”

Shortly before 6am, I became the first passenger to step off a train at

the South Devon station for two months.

The only line between Exeter and Plymouth had been severed in the

February storms, obliging passengers to use bus-replacement

services.

But the handful of passengers on the first service to run over the

restored line were joyful about the return of the train.

“It’s an emotional pull,” said Dave Lovering, an environmental

administrator from Exeter. “I’ve grown up with the railways. My

father worked on the railways – it’s in the family blood.”

Phil Hoult, a property manager at Exeter University, said: “I met my

wife on the platform at Dawlish station. We normally take the train to

Dawlish on our anniversary, but we couldn’t this year.”

The first passengers were welcomed by David Crome, general

manager west for First Great Western. “We never thought we’d be so

happy to see a train come through Dawlish,” he said. “Obviously for

our customers it’s been a massive undertaking for the last few

months. Now they can start taking the railway for granted, which is what they need to be able to do.”

Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s Great Western line clings to the South

Devon shore for four miles between the mouths of the Exe and Teign

rivers. At the height of the February storms the sea wall crumbled,

News > UK > Home News

The South‐West rail link has been repaired and re‐opened but its basic

problems remain

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8 24/04/2014 20:06



Simon Calder at Dawlish station

The aftermath of February’s storms

The aftermath of February’s storms (Getty Images)

leaving the track suspended in mid-air.

Hundreds of Network Rail staff and contractors overcame formidable

challenges to repair the track bed and strengthen the sea wall. In

total, £15m was spent repairing the area outside Dawlish station where track had been left dangling, with an extra £20m to repair

tracks either side of the town.

Speaking in Dawlish hours after the arrival of the first train, David

Cameron declared the South-West of England “open for business”

again, and praised the people of the town for their “patience and

incredible generosity”.

“It’s been a Herculean effort over 56 days and 56 nights. It’s been a

huge task,” he said.

But as The Independent revealed a week ago, some trips will actually

take longer by train than the bus-replacement services. The first daily departure from London to Truro does not arrive until the afternoon –

slower than the temporary bus link via Tiverton Parkway.

Tourism leaders claim that the two-month closure has cost

businesses in Devon and Cornwall more than £50m.

Carolyn Custerson of Visit Devon said: “Bookings leading up to

Easter are estimated as being 23 per cent down and current

reckoning is the crisis has cost the county around £31m.” Malcolm

Bell of Visit Cornwall said: “We estimate we’ve lost about £18m. If

the railway had stayed closed over Easter, that figure would easily

have doubled.”

The closure of the line connecting much of Devon and most of

Cornwall with the rest of the country exposed the lack of resilience in

the rail network. “There’s a clear need for an alternative all-weather

link,” said Mark Smith of Seat61.com, the train travel advice website.

“It would not be a replacement for the current line, as the wonderful

section of line through Dawlish serves important communities, but

an alternative.”

Network Rail is due to report in June on the feasibility of an

additional line. The two main proposals are for a new link a short

way inland from the existing line, and for the reinstatement of the old

Exeter-Plymouth line through Okehampton and Tavistock. The

central part of the route, which skirts Dartmoor, was closed in 1968.

Mr Smith said: “Given the extent of the markets which could be

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served by reinstatement of the old Southern Exeter-Plymouth route

under normal circumstances, with its use as a back-up route purely a

secondary benefit when problems affect the main line, I’d favour that

option.”

The first through service for two months from Plymouth to London

Paddington was a 1970s High Speed Train. June Gurry, a passenger

from Dawlish, was on board. “In a way, we needed this to show how

vulnerable the line is. It’s amazing how quickly they’ve turned it

around.” She added that the town had seen “a massive increase in visitors”, as the repair work became a temporary tourist attraction.

But some old problems beset the new stretch of line. The First Great

Western express arrived 10 minutes late at Exeter because of “speed

restrictions at Dawlish”. Catherine Hayden from Brixham missed her

connection to Andover because the service – operated by rival South

West Trains – was not held. But she remained positive about the

return of rail travel to South Devon. “It’s still better than driving, and

I can work on the way.” Then she kindly bought me a cup of tea.

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8 24/04/2014 20:06



o in

Post a Comment

ItsAlreadyTooLate 19 days ago

Well done all concerned, a pity that Cameron turned up.

+ 1 –

Johnny Kent 19 days ago

Good work

+ 2 –

Delta 19 days ago

Dawlish Resilience & Alternative Rail Routes:

1)Reopen the (old Southern Railway) line from Meldon to Bere

Alston with the whole line from Exeter StD to Plymouth via

Okehampton to be upgraded to 100mph+ running (where

possible).

- New/enhanced stations at Lydford, Okehampton and

Tavistock. Most suitable could act as a new “Parkway” for parts

of North Devon/Cornwall.

- Modify the section from Cowley Bridge Jcn. to Exeter StD for

optimal operating efficiency (i.e.bi-directional each line; 4

tracking through Exeter Riverside yard)etc.

- This upgraded "Southern" line would carry: (1) through fast

Exeter StD to Cornwall Great Western, and Cross Country

Services; (2) stopping services serving Exeter, Newton St.

Cyres, Crediton, Yeoford, Okehampton, Lydford, Tavistock,

Bere Alston and Plymouth local stations.

2) Retain the coastal route between Dawlish Warren and

Teignmouth.

- Coastal route to be primarily for Exeter to Torbay services

and Exeter to Plymouth via Totnes. Trains (using the

forthcoming new high speed units, not current HSTs) working

in multiple could split at Newton Abbot with portion for

Paignton (and on to Kingswear possibly) with portion for

Plymouth via Totnes.

- Local services (calling all stations Exeter to Paignton, and

Exeter to Plymouth via Totnes): similar splitting pattern at

Newton Abbot as InterCity service.- Connections from local services into InterCity services to be

maintained at Plymouth and Exeter StD.

3) Consider also, the upgrade of Exeter StD to Yeovil Jcn. (SWT

23 Apri l 2014 23 April 2014 22 April 2014 22 April 2014 22 April 2014


8 24/04/2014 20:06



main line) to 100% double track (i.e. reinstating line lifted in

1967), to provide greater resilience around Somerset Levels

flood hazard area and extra capacity when used as a diversion

to GW Mainline.

4) Freight could be split between either Devon route,

dependent upon the nature of traffic and source/destination

location. Through services from east of Exeter StD likely to take

Dawlish route to avoid reversals.

Above scheme (1) enables diversions from Torbay to Exeter via

Plymouth in the event that coastal route is blocked.

“West Country Railway Worker”

+ 0 –

Ian Watson 20 days ago

Until the sound tests show that concrete is rock hard set and

secure, there will be speed restrictions in place but deep laid

concrete can take ages to cure so expect the slight delays to

continue for a while.

What this highlights is that the western arm of England ispretty much pared to the bone and its essential to look at

reinstating the cross lines that could take the strain, relieve

busy lines too. The old Tavistock lines are fairly essential and it

also means freight can be moved from Plymouth to Bristol or

up country without disrupting passenger services as much.

The economic case too is there for the SDJR which would have

allowed the bypassing of Crewkerne which was closed off at

that time as well. Towns like Blandford, Sturminster Newton,

Wincanton, Templecombe, Midsomer Norton have all

struggled since the railway left, once upon a time the chance

your milk came from Wincaton was fairly even and there is a

strong passenger need as well to connect the SW main line to

the south west coast line as currently if you wish to go from

Templecombe to Bournemouth, you have to go to Yeovil,

change for Yeovil Pen Mill, wander down to Dorchester and

then up to Bournemouth or travel to Salisbury, to

Southhampton and back down to Bournemouth making it

ridiculous distances and costs. The second point too is having a

freight line from Poole to Bristol that doesn't travel through

congested Salisbury and allows flexibility between

Southampton, Poole and Bristol and down to the south

west/west.

People want to travel by train but unless you live in London or

an up and coming city, the government will not do a thing to

address a need for mass transit alleviating the need for cars or

heavy polluting buses, one of the reasons our roads were fairly

empty prior to Beeching's cuts was that you could pretty muchgo anywhere in the UK by a train, you just didn't need a car as

the rail service was clean, reliable, on time and not strained to

the hilt it is today, again the loss of marshalling yards and

freight facilities has thrown the weight onto the lines too, the

centre of London used to be serviced by two or three freight

terminals, one at Stewarts Lane which is still undeveloped was

the main portal for bringing goods into the city, passenger

services were not even affected as the goods and freight were

brought in via the Olympia line from Willesden or overnight

from Hither Green and Hoo but the Tories knew best, they

knew better and since Major went against the British people

and allowed the vultures in to feast on our railway network, we

now have a terrible system that is close to breaking down.

+ 1 –

Ian C. Purdie - Sydney 20 days ago


8 24/04/2014 20:06



"Trains are running through Dawlish again – but the

replacement bus was quicker"

Absolutely loved it!

+ 0 –

Parseval 20 days ago

The replacement bus ran non-stop between Exeter andPlymouth and took between an hour and an hour and

15 minutes depending on the time of day. Normally the

fastest train takes 59 minutes and makes four

intermediate stops.

The replacement bus took 40 minutes to run non-stop

from Exeter to Newton Abbot, same journey by train

takes 19 minutes.

+ 7 –

perdix 20 days ago

The Indy is incapable of looking on the brightside. Must be the KGB heritage.

+ 4 –


8 24/04/2014 20:06



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