Network Rail is continuing with reliability improvement work, with the latest work set to take place between Yeovil Pen Mill and Weymouth from Monday the 16th to Friday the 20th of October. During the period of work, Great Western Railway will see rail replacement buses operating in place of trains.

Engineers will work around the clock during the five-day line closure and will see approximately 758 metres of 1950s track between Maiden Newton and Chetnole in Cattistock, replaced.

The work will bring improved reliability for the Heart of Wessex Line into the future, alongside creating smoother journeys for passengers whilst bringing the line up to the latest standards and reducing the need for speed restrictions during warmer weather.

During the period of work, engineers will also use the line closure to put up scaffolding at the Evershot tunnel, which will support the repair and repoint of the structure’s brickwork.

Network rail also carried out upgrade work during February and March this year, which involved two back-to-back five-day closures between Castle Cary, Yeovil Pen Mill and Weymouth and saw the following work completed:

• Renewal of more than  1,800 metres of track through Thornford station, which involved the replacement of wooden sleepers with modern durable concrete sleepers.
• Maiden Newton station was refurbished, including a full repaint of the station and repairs to canopies
• Yeovil Pen Mill station saw new tactile paving installed
• Clearing of overgrown vegetation
• Maintenance of key pieces of railway infrastructure on the line.

Oliver Frost, Network Rail project director, said:

“We’re looking forward to continuing our programme of work to improve the reliability of the Heart of Wessex Line next month.”

“This is an important stretch of railway and over the last three years we’ve invested a significant amount to bring smoother and more reliable journeys for our customers travelling between Somerset and Dorset”

“We’re always finding ways to be more cost-effective and reduce the level of disruption to train services during our upgrade work. These slightly longer line closures enable us to carry out a wider range of work simultaneously, which prevents the need for regular, smaller closures of the railway which would be more disruptive to customers.”

“I’d like to thank customers and nearby residents in advance for their patience and understanding while we complete this work.”

Jordan Welsby, Great Western Railway’s station manager for Westbury, Wiltshire and Dorset area, said:

“This forms part of an ongoing programme of improvements that will enable us to maintain services for our customers travelling between Somerset and Dorset for years to come.”

“We will provide alternative road transport between Yeovil Pen Mill, Dorchester West and Weymouth from Monday 16 to Friday 20 October.”

“In addition, we have also agreed ticket acceptance on South Western Railway (SWR) services to ensure customers can still complete their journeys during this time.”