The Rail line between Exeter towards the South West has had many difficulties in the previous few years. With the collapse of the sea wall at Dawlish in early 2014, an alternative route for trains has been on the cards.
Network Rail have been working with the local community to help protect the mainline seeing services from London, Bristol, Leeds, Glasgow and beyond towards Plymouth and Penzance.
Works are already taking place nearby Dawlish station to help protect the rail line and local area from the weather.
Network Rail are keen to work on the route between Parsons Tunnel and Teignmouth along the iconic view known to thousands.
Credit: Charlie Greasley
A six week public consultation will start on the 20th January 2020 in the Exeter, Dawlish and Torbay area. Local communities are invited to have a look at plans of how Network Rail will strengthen the sea wall from Dawlish along to Teignmouth. These 4 hour consultations will be taking place from 20th January to 7th February with a model of the railway showing the work they plan to do.
The public are invited to these events and are invited to provide feedback to Network Rail who will be hosting these meetings.
What do you think of the suggested plans for the Dawlish sea wall? Should an alternative route be built in land? Let us know in the comments below!
Read about the plans in more detail here
What did the officials say?
Mike Gallop – Route Director for Network Rail said
“We are grateful to everyone that took the time to provide their views in our first round of consultation, and I would encourage anyone who has an opinion on our proposals to provide us with feedback as these may lead to further refinements before we apply for consent to undertake the work.”
“During the first phase of public consultation we were able to meet many hundreds of local residents to get their thoughts on our plans to enhance the resilience of this nationally important stretch of railway line that connects the South West to the rest of the country. I’m certain that this second round will be equally as beneficial, and I look forward to hearing the feedback on our revised plans.”
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Responses
Why can’t the rail company look at what they do in Norway to protect the line, they have lots of experience. No need to move the line. Norway biuld protection over the line but leave outer side open to the view!! The wall could be built but needs an outward curve to push the water outwards. Both these would seem a much simpler solution. By all means open the Okehampton line as an alternative if it helps. The line may need raising in view of global warming possibly for the future. How about toughened glass to protect as on Sidmouth seafront!!
I think the best option for the long-term is to re-open the inland route via Okehampton.
I use this line yearly from Plymouth to Paddington. My trip was affected in 2014 whereby I had to cancel my trip. Unfortunately I cannot see this situation improving and if correct that seas will rise due to climatic changes then the only option would be to reopen the old line inland. Its imperative that people can commute particularly west of Exeter since Plymouth Airport shut. The South West is in major need of proper investment of infrastructure which has sadly lacked the last 30 years thus impacting on our social and economical situation.
I am against the part of the scheme which will involve building a new railway embankment farther out to sea between Parsons tunnel and Teignmouth to avoid possible cliff falls. This will result in the destruction of Holcombe and Teignmouth East Cliff beaches which are some of my favourite scenic places in Devon. First, having been familiar with this area for nearly 40 years I think that the problem here has been exaggerated. About twenty years ago a similar problem occurred with the cliffs at Lyme Regis and this was remedied by injecting stabilizing material into the cliffs. I feel that this could be the answer for Holcombe. Why would a railway built out to sea not be vulnerable to wave action? Regarding the raised height sea wall at Dawlish I fear that it might obscure the view from the train windows.
I think the best result would be to reopen the line via Oakhampton and TavistocI and Bere Regis
This was promised by David Cameron…!!!!
Apparently there’s only 12 miles of track to be repaid
This would then provide two routes through Devon and into Cornwall and still allow services to operate via Dawlish as there’s a regular service currently between Exeter – Plymouth – Penzance
Maybe even allowing an increase in services to benefit the whole area served by this very important rail artery
Is Meldon viaduct still strong enough for trains?