West of England line improvements
We’re investing to improve journeys on the West of England line, between Basingstoke and Exeter St Davids
We’re investing significant amounts of money to improve journeys for our passengers along the West of England Line. Our work will boost the railways reliability and performance and reduce delays caused by infrastructure failings.
Upcoming 7 day line closure Saturday 22 – Friday 28 February
Our engineers will be working on the line from Saturday 22 to Friday 28 February.
During the closure revised trains and replacement buses will operate between Salisbury and Yeovil Junction. Please visit South Western Railway for latest travel information.
What work is taking place?
Our engineers will be stabilising embankments at both the Country and London ends of Gillingham Tunnel.
To take full advantage of the line closure we’ll also be improving track drainage, channeling water away from the tunnel reducing the likelihood of further wet beds forming and carrying out vegetation management of carefully selected diseased and dangerous trees encroaching the railway’s path.
Why is the work needed?
It’s important that we identify sites prone to landslips as they cause significant disruption and delays when they do happen and above all we need to ensure that we keep passengers and our engineers safe. While it is safe for trains to currently travel through the area at reduced speeds, repairs to the embankments must be carried out for trains to safely travel at normal line speeds.
Benefits
Our work will boost the railways reliability and performance, more recent and past closures have included:
November 2024 – Renewing the track at Honiton Tunnel
Between 9 – 22 November 2024 engineers replaced the 50-year-old single track through Honiton Tunnel with a mile of new rail, sleepers and ballast stone.
Drainage was also installed to channel the water away from the tunnel to reduce the likelihood of flooding and engineers stabilised the embankments at the mouth of the tunnel to reduce the risk of landslips. We also completed a range of other important work including:
- Laying half a mile of new track between Pinhoe and Feniton
- Finishing off the stabilisation of the recent Cleave Embankment land slip and cutting back vegetation
- Carefully removing selected dangerous, diseased and dying trees between Honiton and Pinhoe to help keep trains running safely and on time
November/December 2023 we:
- Improved drainage along the track by removing wet beds through Crewkerne level crossing
- Upgraded Axe Gates and Broom level crossings, between Axminster and Crewkerne stations
- Completed routine maintenance of Weycroft River Bridge outside Axminster
- Replaced track from Tisbury to Sherborne
- Cleared dangerous vegetation between Tisbury and Sherborne
- Completed level crossing maintenance between Tisbury and Templecombe
- Installed cabling between Tisbury and Sherborne
In 2022 we:
- Renewed the railway running over Perretts Bridge (by Tisbury station), replacing 1226 yards of track, installing 4500 tonnes of new ballast and 1720 concrete sleepers.
- A £5 million project to strengthen the cutting at Honiton tunnel which saw the installation of both a 35 and 15-yard King Post Wall, as well as improving the drainage from the many natural springs in the area.
- Renewed track at Axminster station.
- Refurbished Sherborne and Feniton level crossings.
- Installed new tactile paving at Gillingham and Sherbourne stations.
Get in touch
For more information or to get in touch with us, please visit our contact us page, follow us on X (formally known as Twitter) or by calling our 24-hour national helpline on 03457 11 41 41.