Major South West railway disruption as two lines closed

Daniel Clark

8 November 2024 at 5:36 pm·5-min read

Buses will replace trains between Axminster and Exeter St Davids from Saturday 9 November to Friday 22 November while track upgrades in the Honiton area are carried out.

During this two-week period, engineers will install a mile of new track through Honiton Tunnel, replacing the existing 50-year-old infrastructure. This upgrade includes the installation of new sleepers and ballast, ensuring a smoother and more reliable journey for passengers. The new rail is designed to millimetre precision and will be coated with a protective layer to resist corrosion to extend its lifespan.

But it will impact on passenger services with South Western Railway (SWR) will be running rail replacement bus services between Axminster and Exeter St Davids:

Weekdays:

1 per hour Axminster to Exeter St David’s – calling at Honiton, Cranbrook and Exeter Central.
1 per hour Axminster to Exeter St David’s – calling at Honiton, Feniton, Whimple, Cranbrook, Pinhoe and Exeter Central.

Weekends:

1 per hour Axminster to Exeter St David’s – calling at Honiton and Exeter Central.
1 per hour Axminster to Exeter St David’s – calling at Honiton, Feniton, Whimple, Cranbrook, Pinhoe and Exeter Central.

Mark Goodall, Wessex Route Director, said: “There is never a convenient time to close the railway for an extended duration so we’re sorry to any passengers disrupted by this closure and thank them in advance for their patience and understanding.

"The West of England Line is a critical route for connecting passengers from Devon to London, and vice versa, and this forthcoming work is really important for the continued safe and reliable running of train services.

“In particular, the track through Honiton Tunnel is now life expired and in need of replacing with new and more resilient track and while that is being completed our teams will be undertaking a number of other useful pieces of key maintenance and upgrades along the line to support us in running the best possible service we can when the line reopens on Saturday 23 November.”

Peter Williams, Customer and Commercial Director for South Western Railway, said: “Customers travelling between Axminster and Exeter should check their journeys and allow extra time to complete them, as buses are replacing trains from Saturday 9 to Friday 22 November.

“Closing important parts of the railway for two weeks is never an easy decision because we know how inconvenient it can be for customers, but the closure will allow Network Rail to deliver significant improvements on this part of the West of England line.

“We thank customers for their patience as these essential improvements are carried out, which will boost performance for years to come and help avoid day-to-day disruption on this busy part of our network.”

During this closure, Network Rail will be completing several other essential tasks:

Vegetation management: Cutting back vegetation growth that is encroaching on the path of trains and removing carefully selected dangerous, diseased and dying trees between Honiton and Pinhoe along with general track and drainage maintenance
Improving track drainage: Enhancing water channelling away from the tunnel to reduce the likelihood of flooding.
Track replacement: Replacing half a mile of track between Pinhoe and Feniton.
Earthworks: Finishing off the stabilisation of the recent Cleave Embankment land slip.
General track and drainage maintenance

And it comes as Great Western Railway services will be affected by rail improvement work taking place between Berkshire and Wiltshire next week. Network Rail is replacing track on the route via Newbury along with flood alleviation works at Newbury station during the autumn and winter.

The latest planned engineering work will impact train services between Theale and Westbury from Monday 11 until Thursday 14 November:

Trains between London Paddington and the South West will use an alternative route via Swindon making journey times longer as a result

Trains will still run between London Paddington/Reading and Theale

Replacement buses are planned between Theale and Newbury/Bedwyn, plus between Pewsey and Swindon

There will also be replacement buses operating between Westbury and Chippenham due to limited train service between Westbury and Swindon

Further work will impact trains between Newbury and Westbury from Tuesday 10 to Thursday 12 December.

Tom Butler, GWR Station Manager for the Kennet & Thames Valley area, said: “This improvement work forms part of an ongoing programme of maintenance, helping to ensure we can continue to provide consistent and reliable services.

“Trains will still run between Theale and Reading or onto London Paddington, plus between London and the South West by using an alternative route. GWR will provide rail replacement services for stations between Theale and Bedwyn, plus buses between Pewsey and Swindon for onward connections.

“Customers should be aware that there will be fewer parking spaces available in the station car park at Theale due to the rail replacement operation. There will also be limited train services running between Westbury and Swindon, so replacement buses will be provided between Westbury and Chippenham.

“It’s important that customers note these alternative travel arrangements will make their normal journey times much longer, so please check before you travel.”

Mark Parker, South Rail Systems Alliance and Network Rail’s lead portfolio manager, said: “We’d like to thank passengers for their patience while we carry out this essential track upgrade in the Newbury area. Once complete, this vital work will enable continued safe and reliable services to run on this popular route for years to come.”

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