Senior Network Rail man Robin Gisby noted on February 6’s Today programme: “It feels like we’re having 1-in-100 year events every year or so.”
With the battering Britain and its railways have taken from storms over the last couple of months, it’s easy to see why. Dawlish is the most high-profile example but it’s by no means the only section of line that’s been blocked by poor weather and storms over the past few weeks.
This is an elevated view of the damage at Dawlish following this week’s storms. Picture: NR.
Dawlish is expected to take several weeks to repair but NR is to put temporary repairs in place to protect the site against storms coming this weekend. Those repairs will use a concrete spraying machine that’s been working at Whiteball Tunnel.
Elsewhere, NR expects to open the Cambrian Coast line as far as Barmouth, having repaired the line through Tywyn that was damaged in storms in early January. Trains should be running from February 10.
Repairs underway on the Cambrian Coast route towards Pwllheli. Picture: NR.
It may yet be May before the line fully reopens back to Pwllheli. NR still has storm damage to repair but it’s a project to build a new bridge at Pont Briwet that will keep the line closed. Here NR has admitted that piling work for the new bridge has affected the structural stability of the old one. This has caused NR to close the bridge to trains.
In Southern England, NR has repaired its Dorking-Horsham line through Ockley, allowing a full service to run once more. One track was closed following a landslip on Christmas Day. The embankment has been strengthened with a steel wall and over 4,000 tonnes of material dropped into place.
Network Rail and BAM Nuttall repair the embankment at Ockley, on the Dorking-Horsham route. Picture: NR.
Finally, in Northern England, the Cumbrian Coast line reopened in mid-January. NR had to repair sea defences between Sellafield and Maryport and replace 600 yards of ballast that was washed away at Parton and Kirkby-in-Furness.
Ballast washed away at Flimby on the Cumbrian Coast. Picture: NR.