{"id":355919,"date":"2026-01-26T21:22:29","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T11:22:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/railuk.com\/?p=188317"},"modified":"2026-01-26T21:22:29","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T11:22:29","slug":"dawlish-sea-wall-damage-disrupts-travel-between-exeter-and-plymouth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=355919","title":{"rendered":"Dawlish sea wall damage disrupts travel between Exeter and Plymouth"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Rail services between Exeter St Davids and Plymouth were suspended after part of the sea wall protecting the line at Dawlish partially collapsed, leaving debris and flooding on the track.<\/p>\n

The damage occurred at Sea Lawn Terrace, where sections of the wall were demolished, scattering tonnes of debris across the railway. The disruption comes as parts of the south west continue to recover from the effects of Storm Goretti.<\/p>\n

Martin Wrigley, the Liberal Democrat MP for Newton Abbot, said the incident demonstrated that further investment was needed to strengthen the route. He described the railway as \u201ca crucial lifeline for the entire south west\u201d and warned that more work was required to improve its resilience.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe wall beside the track at Sea Lawn Terrace has been demolished and there is literally tonnes of debris on the line, let alone the amount of water on the line,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Network Rail confirmed that the sea wall had collapsed in two places, prompting the organisation to issue a black alert \u2013 its highest warning level \u2013 for only the second time since storms destroyed sections of the line at Dawlish in February 2014.<\/p>\n

Following inspections of safety-critical parts of the infrastructure, Network Rail said a limited service was now operating through Dawlish. However, speed restrictions remain in place, resulting in ongoing delays.<\/p>\n

James Crook, from Network Rail, said teams had worked in \u201cpretty trying conditions\u201d to clear debris and make the route safe.<\/p>\n

He added that a number of issues remained, including sections of ballast that had been washed away. Repair work is expected to continue throughout the week.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was not only the heavy wind and the rain, it was also the high tide on Friday evening,\u201d he said. \u201cAll of those things combining together had a strong impact on the railway.\u201d<\/p>\n

Image credit: Network Rail<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Rail services between Exeter St Davids and Plymouth were suspended after part of the sea wall protecting the line at Dawlish partially collapsed, leaving debris and flooding on the track. The damage occurred at Sea Lawn Terrace, where sections of the wall were demolished, scattering tonnes of debris across the railway. The disruption comes as [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2305,16017,343,47,85],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-355919","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-environment","category-industry-news","category-infrastructure","category-rail-news","category-uk"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355919","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=355919"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355919\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":355920,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355919\/revisions\/355920"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=355919"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=355919"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=355919"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}