Trains are running through Dawlish again but the replacement bus w...

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Ladies and gentlemen, the station youve all been waiting for, announced the guard aboard the 5.34am train from Exeter St Davids. 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. Its an emotional pull, said Dave Lovering, an environmental administrator from Exeter. Ive grown up with the railways. My father worked on the railways its 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 couldnt this year. The first passengers were welcomed by David Crome, general manager west for First Great Western. We never thought wed be so happy to see a train come through Dawlish, he said. Obviously for our customers its 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 Brunels 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,
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leaving the track suspended in mid-air.

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Simon Calder at Dawlish station

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. Its been a Herculean effort over 56 days and 56 nights. Its 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 weve lost about 18m. If the railway had stayed closed over Easter, that figure would easily have doubled. The aftermath of Februarys storms
The aftermath of Februarys storms (Getty Images)

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. Theres 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, Id 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. Its amazing how quickly theyve 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. Its still better than driving, and I can work on the way. Then she kindly bought me a cup of tea.

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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

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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 is pretty 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 much go 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

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"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 and Plymouth 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 bright side. Must be the KGB heritage.

+ 4

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