Since May 2019, Network Rail (NR) have been building a new sea wall at Dawlish. The first section opened to the public on 28 July 2020, while NR completed some finishing touches to the footpaths.
The case for this work was raised following the damage that took place in February 2014, when the sea wall was washed away, leaving the track hanging in mid-air. Five landslips had also taken place, which included a major collapse between Dawlish and Teignmouth, where the line was blocked with 20,000 tonnes of material. This took NR eight weeks to repair, before the line was reopened. At the time it was clear to NR that more extensive reconstruction was required. NR then went on to setup the South West Rail Resilience Programme. Numerous studies of the route have been carried out over the last few years, as specialists tried to work out what was happening to the cliffs and coastline. Alternatives to the route were considered, but were discarded following the decision to retain that section of the railway and improve it. Some people may be of the opinion that despite spending all this money on the work to protect the railway and to raise the sea wall to control the waves, the level of the sea may rise and overcome the railway again. Another option is that the waves may, after some time of washing against the concrete, break through, and so prove that man can not control the sea. Although this next statement is not related to railways, it is worth noting that if King Canute could not control the waves, how can we expect anyone else to have control? The answer is we can not. If the sea was to overcome the new sea wall and damage the railway behind it, then it would no doubt cost a lot to repair it, and would potentially take (depending on the amount of damage) a while to repair. Obviously, if left (and NR would not do this), the railway would eventually be destroyed completely bringing an end to trains travelling to Penzance from London Paddington. What is the alternative to operating trains through Dawlish and along the sea wall? People have suggested reopening the railway through Okehampton and Tavistock, and down to Plymouth could be an alternative. There are obstacles on route such as housing, where a small diversion would be required, as house owners will not want their houses to be demolished! Okehampton Station is already owned by a heritage railway, the Dartmoor Railway. GWR already operates a service between Plymouth and Gunnislake up the Tamar Valley, so the reopened line could maybe link up with this one. Some progress has been made by Great Western Railway (GWR), in that a passenger shuttle service first operated between Okehampton and Exeter St Davids from the summer of 2017, and that was a summer service only. From then on in the summer, GWR has operated the shuttle service, excepting this year of course for obvious reasons. The second alternative is the freight only line that branches away from the main line at Exeter and cuts out Dawlish, before rejoining at around Newton Abbot. Nonetheless, a plan (or report) has been submitted to the government (in July 2020), which if the green light was given, would cost a total of £1.2 billion. The plan includes proposals to reopen the line between Exeter, Okehampton, and Plymouth. Also as part of that plan, the Tarka Line services between Exeter and Barnstaple would be improved. Another proposal is to create a new link across central Cornwall between Newquay, St Austell, and Truro. Let's make this clear: if the government was to give the go ahead, then the line between Exeter, Okehampton, and Plymouth could be reopened, but this would not mean the closure of the Dawlish route. More probable is that the Okehampton route would be utilized by another train service. In extreme circumstances, trains could be diverted via this route should any disruption take place at Dawlish.
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