Trains services between Devon and London to return to normal
The West of England Line timetable has been reduced since August due to extremely dry whether conditions
Hourly services between Exeter St Davids and London Waterloo will resume from the end of November, after months of disruption.
The West of England Line timetable has been reduced since August due to UK’s driest ever spring and summer, which affected track conditions from Yeovil to Exeter.
The extreme dry weather caused track instability and forced engineers to impose speed restrictions on trains.
South Western Railway and Network Rail have said the full timetable will now be restored from Saturday 29th November after conditions improved allowing engineers to carry out track repairs that will allow trains to travel at regular speeds
Tom Desmond, Network Rail’s Wessex Route Operations Director, speaking on behalf of South Western Railway and Network Rail, said:
“We can confirm that we are set to restore the full timetable on the West of England Line on Saturday 29 November. We know just how important this line is to its local communities, with our customers using services to reach their places of work, or local schools and colleges.
“We have closely monitored ground conditions and are now able to start track repairs. Once those repairs are complete, trains will be able to run at full line speeds, bringing the full timetable back into operation.
“We are very grateful to our customers for their continued patience and would like to sincerely apologise for the disruption they have experienced since August.”
The extremely dry conditions in August caused clay embankments between Gillingham in Dorset and Axminster in Devon to shrink, an issue known as ‘Soil Moisture Deficit’.
Autumn rain and cooler weather have helped restore moisture levels in the embankments, enabling them to stabilise.
Bruce Duncan, Chair of the Salisbury-Exeter Rail User Group, said:
“After a very challenging few months for students, commuters and leisure travellers using SWR’s services between Salisbury and Exeter, we are absolutely delighted the hourly timetable will be restored from Saturday 29 November.
“The SWR and NR team have worked hard to remedy the issues caused by the dry embankments, made particularly challenging by the extensive sections of single track on the route, and we look forward to working with them on long term plans to mitigate the ongoing impacts of climate change.”