Heavy flooding continues to disrupt rail services

Branch lines to remain closed for several days after storms batter the region

Network Rail and Great Western Railway are advising passengers that heavy flooding will affect train travel in the region for several days.

Back-to-back storms have brought persistent heavy rain and widespread flooding across the region. 

As a result, the following lines are closed and customers should not attempt to travel between:

• Exeter St Davids - Barnstaple
• Exeter St Davids - Okehampton (via Crediton)

Poor road conditions mean bus replacement services cannot be provided on these routes at this stage. Should conditions improve, replacement bus services will be provided where possible.

These branch lines are likely to remain closed for several days as Network Rail teams make sure the routes are safe for trains to run, and no rail services will operate.

In addition, customers should only travel if necessary between Taunton and Exeter St Davids, with trains unable to run and limited replacement buses in operation. This line is expected to be closed until at least Wednesday 28 January due to deep, fast-moving floodwater at Hele.

As roads in the area are also flooded, journeys on replacement transport may take longer than usual.

Emergency engineering work will close the route between Exeter St Davids and Newton Abbot from 1900 on Wednesday 28 January to 0700 on Thursday 28 January.

This follows the discovery of a large sinkhole measuring 8m x 3.5m near the railway between Dawlish and Teignmouth in the wake of Storm Ingrid.

Services will continue to run between London and Taunton/Exeter St Davids, and Newton Abbot and Penzance. Buses will run between Taunton, Exeter St Davids and Newton Abbot, and between Taunton, Exeter St Davids and Plymouth and Tiverton Parkway.

he Night Riviera Sleeper service will not run in either direction between Paddington and Penzance on Wednesday evening, resuming on Thursday 29 January.

GWR Managing Director, Mark Hopwood, said:

"If you've been travelling with us and been affected by train service disruption due to the storms, I'd like to apologise. We do hope to get services up and running as quickly as possible.

"The storms have caused some damage to the railway infrastructure and we need to work with our friends at Network Rail to get that fixed."

Network Rail’s Western route director, Marcus Jones, added: 

“Intense rainfall over the past few days has caused significant flooding across parts of Devon and Cornwall, and we’ve had to close four branch lines in the region as a result. Flooding in the Hele area of Devon means the main line between Taunton and Exeter St Davids is also closed. We’re really sorry for the disruption this is causing for passengers.

“Our teams are on the ground around the clock, working as quickly as we safely can to assess the impact of the flooding. Once the water recedes, we’ll need to carry out safety inspections before the lines can reopen.

“Given the scale of the flooding, disruption is expected for the next few days on the branch lines. Our teams will prioritise reopening the main line between Taunton and Exeter St Davids as soon as they are able to do so. Please continue to check before travelling for the latest updates.”

Travel advice

Online journey planners are being updated so check your journey before you attempt to travel at www.gwr.com , where you can see full information on all lines affected and details on replacement transport where provided.  Limited replacement bus services, and ticket acceptance on local bus routes, is in place on some routes, but buses are expected to be in demand.

Rail tickets for travel on Tuesday 27 January can be used to travel up to and including Thursday 29 January, or you can claim a full refund at https://gwr.com/help-and-support/refunds-and-compensation  

Once flood waters recede, inspections of the railway infrastructure will need to be carried out before the lines can safely reopen. Network Rail engineers will prioritise reopening the main line as quickly as possible.