Seven years after rail line was destroyed, wrangling goes on
UNFINISHED plans to safeguard the future of the coastal railway at Dawlish have been criticised on the seven-year anniversary of the storm that left the rail line swinging over the sea.
Network Rail is forging ahead with the second phase of elevating the sea wall in a huge engineering feat involving Europe’s only ‘wavewalker’ barge to protect the line from the sea for the next 100 years.
Construction of this section of the £80 million upgrade will take around two years to complete and follows years of detailed studies, designs and joint working between world-leading marine, coastal and railway engineering experts.
But the other part of the wider scheme, which involves moving the line ‘out to sea’, claiming much of Holcombe beach, to protect the line from cliff falls has been paused in the face of huge opposition.
And there are fears that it will be at least another seven years until that crucial phase of work begins.
The line is the only rail route west of Exeter and is a vital for economic growth and reliable services into the whole of the South West.
Tudor Evans, leader of Plymouth City Council, said: “We need a fast resilient, railway and we are not even half way to securing one.
“At the time when all the talk in Government is all about HS2, what can we do to get the Government to listen to us?
“I cannot think of another city or region of our size in the country that the Government would dare treat like this.
“My call is for our MPs to make some demands, like their counterparts elsewhere are doing. We need them to put on the pressure, we need urgency to make sure our message is heard.”
Gary Streeter, MP for South West Devon, raised the issue of the Dawlish rail line with Chris Heaton-Harris, Minister of State (Department for Transport) last Thursday.
He asked for assurances that work to secure the cliff face on the route from Parson’s Tunnel towards Teignmouth would not be delayed or compromised.
Mr Heaton-Harris responded: “We remain committed to improving the resilience of this vital transport artery. Network Rail is continuing to develop proposals for further phases of the resilience programme, using £17.2 million of Government funding that has already been given.”
Last October, Network Rail announced it was refining its plans on the plans for Parson’s Tunnel that will impact on the beach. It
plans a further round of public consultation this year. Mr Streeter said: “In reality, it is a process. It was a pity the all-singing, all-dancing scheme was beaten off by planning objectors, but Network Rail assure me this is a huge priority for them. I will keep the pressure on.”
However, Tim Jones, chairman of the South West Business Council, said the scheme so far was like a “half-baked cake”.
He asked: “How can we even start thinking of ‘levelling up’ without a 21st-century infrastructure that will get us there?”
Network Rail said: “Our proposed project to realign the railway track between Parson’s Tunnel and Teignmouth has not been abandoned.”
Network Rail added that, following feedback, plans were being refined and an update would be coming later this year.