Heart of Wessex line upgrades

We’re making major improvements on the Heart of Wessex line from Castle Cary to Weymouth   

Since February 2020, we’ve been renewing key stretches of track, replacing bridges and carrying out essential maintenance at our stations.

Upcoming line closure 10 – 16 March

This March we’re carrying out essential engineering work on the Heart of Wessex Line.

Revised train services and rail replacement buses will operate throughout the closure:

• From Monday 10 – Friday 14 March buses replace trains between Castle Cary and Yeovil Pen Mill
• From Saturday 15 to Sunday 16 March buses replace trains between Castle Cary and Weymouth

For up-to-date travel information visit train provider gwr.com or nationalrail.co.uk

What work is taking place?

Our engineers have identified wet beds between Castle Cary and Yeovil Pen Mill and need to replace 850 tonnes of ballast stone over a 250 metre stretch of track.

They will use an undercutter machine to remove the old ballast stone and road rail vehicles to refill new ballast from train wagons.

Why is it needed?

Wet beds form when ballast and sleepers become saturated by water from either above or below the ground.

It’s important to rectify wet beds as soon as possible as they can result in dips and ‘rough rides’ that diminish the track’s efficiency.

Benefits

Our work over the last four years has been a serious investment to improve the reliability of the Heart of Wessex line. 

Our Projects

Most recently, from 23 to 29 September 2024, we replaced a mile of track between Thornford and Yeovil Pen Mill stations which involved the installation of 2,100 new concrete sleepers and 3,500 tonnes of new ballast stone.

Why was the work needed?

The steel jointed track was over 50 years old and prone to faults, requiring regular inspections – causing delays to passengers. The brand-new continuous welded rail will make for smoother, more comfortable and reliable journeys with less need for speed restrictions in hotter months.

To take full advantage of the week-long closure we also:

• Made improvements to the junctions on either side of Maiden Newton station by replacing two sets of switches and crossings (switches and crossings are moveable sections of track that guide trains from one track to another and allow them to cross paths).
• Completed bridge inspections at both Poundbury and Grimstone tunnels
• Carried out signalling and telecommunications testing
• Carefully managed vegetation by selecting diseased and dangerous trees that could cause delays to the running of trains.

This ongoing improvement project started in February 2020 when we replaced a bridge at Yetminster, then in March 2021, we carried out essential maintenance at Yeovil Pen Mill station. 

In November and December 2021, we replaced four miles of track between Maiden Newton and Yetminster, improved Weymouth and Upwey stations and carried out bridge and track maintenance. 

In September 2022 a week-long closure from Weymouth to Yeovil Pen Mill saw our engineers replace 1950s track in the Yetminster area, overhaul the Yeovil Pen Mill signal box and resurface the platform at Yetminster station. 

In February and March 2023 our teams successfully completed two back-to-back 5-day weekday closures between Castle Cary/Yeovil Pen Mill and Weymouth.   

Our engineers took advantage of this extended line closure to complete multiple improvement works along the line. During 240 site hours, we: 

• Renewed over 2,000 yards of railway through Thornford station, replacing track and old timber sleepers with new concrete ones. 
• Refurbished Maiden Newton station, repairing the canopies, giving the station a clean and a fresh lick of paint. 
• Installed new tactile pavings at Yeovil Pen Mill station to keep all our passengers safe 
• Cleared overgrown vegetation and maintained key bits of railway infrastructure. 

From Monday 16 to Friday 20 October 2023 our teams worked round the clock to replace 758 metres of 1950s track between Maiden Newton and Chetnole, bringing yet another part of this line up to modern standards.

Contact us

For more information or to get in touch with us, please contact us by visiting our contact us page or by calling our 24-hour national helpline on 03457 11 41 41. Information can also be found on our twitter page @NetworkRailWssx