Dawlish Sea Wall

We’re protecting the railway line for passengers and the people of Dawlish

Train running along the new Dawlish sea wall
Train running along the Dawlish sea wall

The new wall will cost £80million and is being delivered in two phases. The first phase, which runs for approximately 400m from Colonnade underpass, west of Dawlish station, to Boat Cove has now been built, ensuring that this section of railway is more resilient for future generations.

Work on phase two, which runs for 415m between Coastguards and Colonnade breakwaters, began in November 2020 and is expected to finish in Spring 2023. Work began on a new accessible footbridge with lifts at Dawlish station in September 2022. It is due to open in late 2023.

How did we get here?

In February 2014, a devastating storm struck Dawlish leaving just a swing bridge of rails behind, severing the whole of the South West peninsula off from the rest of the UK and costing millions of pounds to put right.

Remarkably 300 Network Rail staff and contractors managed to restore the rail link in just eight weeks by repairing the sea wall and replacing the track and foundations with 6,000 tonnes of concrete and 150 tonnes of steel.

Five years on since we reopened Dawlish

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Contact us

Visit our contact us page, call our 24-hour national helpline on 03457 11 41 41 or you can contact us on Twitter at @SouthWestRRP