Railway services in the South West

Railway line through Dawlish

In early February 2014 a section of the sea wall in Dawlish, Devon collapsed following a storm and left the railway to Cornwall suspended in mid-air. Immediate measures put in place at the time to cope with the loss of the rail line included more domestic flights from Newquay to Gatwick, discounted train fares and a replacement bus service.

Then Prime Minister David Cameron subsequently announced £61 million to help repair damaged roads and build greater resilience into the railways of the south west. This included a £31 million scheme to deliver 10 rail resilience projects including works at Cowley Bridge in Exeter, to improve resilience to flooding. The rail line reopened on 4 April 2014.

Projects to improve the resilience of the railway line through Dawlish

Network Rail, who are responsible for rail infrastructure, was asked by the government to carry out a study into the long-term resilience of the railway to the south west and published the Exeter-Newton Abbot Resilience Strategy in September 2016. This identified five projects to improve the resilience of railway infrastructure between Dawlish and Teignmouth.

Four of these projects have been completed:

1. Dawlish Sea Wall section 1: this runs for approximately 400 metres from Colonnade underpass, west of Dawlish station, to Boat Cove. It was officially opened by then Rail Minister Chris Heaton-Harris on 25 September 2020 [PDF].
2. Dawlish Sea Wall section 2: this consists of approximately 415 metres of new sea wall. Construction started in November 2020, and it opened to the public on 25 May 2023.
3. Parsons Tunnel north portal: this project comprises a new rockfall shelter and other measures (including soil nails and netting) to prevent rocks from falling on the railway line. Work started in autumn 2021 and was completed in October 2023.
4. Protecting the track between Dawlish and Holcombe: this project comprises matting, netting and soil nails to prevent rocks and soil from falling on the railway line. Work started in July 2023 and was completed on 17 December 2024.

A fifth project, Parsons Tunnel to Teignmouth Resilience Project is being developed. In 2019, Network Rail undertook a public consultation where they presented proposals to re-align this stretch of the railway. This would reduce the risk of rocks falling on the railway line. A further consultation took place in 2020. While there was general support for increasing the resilience of the railway, a large number of responses raised concerns about reduced availability to the beaches at Holcombe and Teignmouth due to the re-alignment of the railway [PDF].

As a result of this feedback, Network Rail is gathering more data and developing a revised plan for this section of the railway line. Any future proposals will be subject to funding and any planning consents that would be required.

Alternative rail routes between Exeter and Newton Abbot/Plymouth

An earlier Network Rail study, West of Exeter Route Resilience Study [PDF, 2014] considered seven potential routes for the construction of an inland railway line between Exeter and Newton Abbot/Plymouth, in addition to the existing line through Dawlish. However, all of these options offered poor value for money. In the subsequent Western Route Study [PDF, August 2015, p198], Network Rail noted that further work would be undertaken to consider the resilience requirements on this route.

Passenger railway services in south west England

Passenger railway services in south west England are currently operated by CrossCountry, Great Western Railway (GWR), and South Western Railway (SWR) under contract to the Department for Transport (DfT).

Performance

The Office of Rail and Road publish data on the performance of all train operators. This includes data on punctuality, cancellations and delay minutes.

Rail nationalisation

Using powers in the Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Act 2024 (“the 2024 act”), these three train operators will be brought into the public sector. South Western Railway will be the first to be nationalised when its contract with the DfT expires on 25 May 2025.

Further information on the 2024 act is given in the Library briefing Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill 2024-25.

Rail reform

Nationalisation is part of the government’s wider plans for rail reform, which will be taken forward through the introduction of a separate Railways Bill. Pages 30-32 of King's Speech 2024: background briefing notes sets out the government’s plans to reform the rail industry, including:

• Vertical integration (“bringing track and train back together”).
• The creation of Great British Railways, a “directing mind” responsible for the management of the network and the delivery of passenger services.
• The creation of a new passenger watchdog, the Passenger Standards Authority, who will be responsible for independently monitoring standards and championing improvements in service performance.
• Reform of the ticketing system.
• A statutory duty for Great British Railways to promote rail freight, including a rail freight growth target.
• A continued role for open access operators, where they “add value and capacity to the network”.

The DfT said that the consultation on this legislation is expected to be published “around the turn of the year” with the bill expected to be introduced in summer 2025.

Open access proposal

There is also a proposed open access operator, Go-op, who plan to operate services between Taunton and Westbury from the end of 2025, with some extended to serve Swindon and Weston Super Mare. As an open access operator, services would be operated on a commercial basis and not under contract with the DfT. As such, the 2024 act would not apply to these services.