SPEAKING at an event at Dawlish on July 3, to mark the completion of the new sea wall, Network Rail Wales and Western region regional managing director Michelle Handforth said: “The line is a vital transport link for the south west, something that was starkly highlighted when sections of the railway were washed away and flooded during an intense storm in 2014.
“Enhancing the resilience of this coastal stretch of line is vitally important for the region, especially given the challenges posed by climate change and the increasing frequency of extreme weather.
“Working with world-leading engineers and with funding from the Government, we’ve been able to protect the railway line and town of Dawlish for generations to come.”
However, there is work left to do at the famous Devon seaside town. The event was able to showcase the huge undertaking by Network Rail and its contractor BAM Nuttall in carrying out resilience work which will keep trains running along the wall west of Exeter.
And this was needed, as the events of less than a decade proved.
February 2014 was a bad time for Devon’s railways. Within the space of 10 days, two powerful storms caused 100-metres of the sea wall to collapse at Dawlish, cutting off
