Eighth anniversary of Dawlish rail wash-away

And they're still working on it!

It's eight years since much of the south west was cut off from the rest of the UK by rail.

On 4 February 2014 a storm severely damaged the railway on the South Devon coastline. It took months to get back to normal, and years of subsequent work.

Indirectly, it led to the rail line reopening to the north of Dartmoor, connecting Exeter to Okehampton.

In Dawlish a new, bigger sea wall began construction in May 2019 with the first section running 360 metres along Marine Parade south west of Dawlish station being completed in July 2020.

A 415 metre second section – stretching from Coastguard breakwater east of Dawlish station to Colonnade breakwater – began in November 2020.

One hundred and forty-three concrete wall panels have been installed along with what Network Rail calls 'curved wave returns' , which, "coupled with the increased height of the wall, is having a noticeably positive impact keeping the tracks flood-free and train services running on this iconic stretch of railway.

"The promenade along the second section is starting to take shape and the steps down to the beach at Coastguard breakwater have been completed, with Coastguard’s footbridge expected to reopen later this month."

Dawlish rail line improvements Feb 2022 (courtesy; Network Rail)

Their statement continues: "While excellent progress has been made, there is still a lot of work to do, and engineers are now focussing efforts on temporarily diverting the Dawlish river water as part of work on the new stilling basin and continuing installing the remaining piles between the stilling basin and the station building.

"Work is also underway to completely rebuild the seaward platform 1 (serving trains towards Teignmouth) and resurfacing the landward platform 2 (serving trains towards Exeter) with a team of engineers working around the clock over four consecutive weekends in February to complete this work, making it safer and easier for passengers to step onto and off trains.

GWR is asking those intending to travel during this period to plan ahead and check journey times before travelling.

It is anticipated that the promenade along the second section and between the first and second sections of sea wall will be completed and open to the public this summer, meaning residents and visitors alike will be able to walk between Dawlish and Dawlish Warren along the entire length of new sea wall.

The overall £80m Department for Transport-funded project – which will also see improvements made to Dawlish station including an accessible station footbridge with lifts – will be completed in 2023 and will protect the railway and town from rising sea levels and extreme weather for future generations."

Councillor Val Mawhood, mayor of Dawlish, said: “The great storm of 2014 is now a major part of Dawlish history and something that will be spoken about for generations to come.

“This awful event showed just how vital this section of the rail network is for the whole of the South West and I welcome the progress which has been made on the new sea wall. This is already having a positive impact on the town and will ensure that history isn’t repeated.”

Mark Chorley, GWR regional station manager, West, said: “This work is important to ensure we can continue to maintain and improve resilience and we thank customers for their patience in advance.”

“We have been working hard to provide as many replacement buses as we can to ensure people can continue to travel confidently and safely. However, we strongly recommend our customers check their times carefully before travelling to ensure a smooth journey with us.”

Throughout February, the Dawlish Information Hub, situated on Marine Parade, will be open to the public on Saturdays between 12 and 2pm.