A severely-damaged section of railway at Dawlish will remain closed until mid-April after being battered by storms, Network Rail has confirmed.
Following more storm damage last weekend, Network Rail has said it will take another two months to fix, with engineers “working day and night”.
Patrick Hallgate, route managing director, Network Rail Western said: “We are all conscious of the importance of this railway to the South West, its economy and the people of Dawlish.
“They have been tremendous in supporting our team and understanding of the challenges we face. We are confident that we will have the railway back by mid-April and if we can we will beat that date.”
Mark Hopwood, managing director First Great Western added: “This will allow us to restore through train services linking London and Exeter with Torbay, Plymouth and Cornwall.
“We appreciate Network Rail’s efforts to work round the clock to get the line reopen so we can resume services for customers as soon as possible.
“Until the line reopens we are running train services between Exeter and London and between Newton Abbot and Penzance with bus services linking these to keep our passengers moving.”
There have been proposals to re open the route via Tavistock as an inland alternative. Instead why not consider a new diversionary route from Exeter to Newton Abbot. There could be a tunnel portal near Marsh Barton at the Exeter end and the route could be mainly tunnel to near Kingsteignton. Electrify to Plymouth too.
If the Dawlish route was to be abandoned would Network Rail still have to maintain the sea wall or would the Environment Agency or county council take over? It seems that many properties are protected by it.