Dawlish rail line

[Over The Hill]

The Dawlish sea wall seems to now be repaired, which is good news if you are planning a Le-Jog. I am looking at a Bas-le; Basingstoke to Land's End and so was catching up on the train situation.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLRA8JfJ73U&feature=player_embedded


Great time lapse film of them mending the Dawlish rail line. You can see they had a great idea and put in a row of containers filled with rocks as a temporary wall to keep the waves off while they were working. Look in the later part as the containers are smashed and bent after a later storm.

The website https://www.networkrail.co.uk/timetables-and-travel/storm-damage/dawlish/ gives a progress report and they are now using a water cannon to bring down 20,000 tonnes of cliff that is above the line and has come lose. I don't think the line is yet open but seems very near.

 

[IDMark2]

I was talking to my friend yesterday who needs the line open to commute, presently she uses the bus service from Totnes to Exeter which is, as you can imagine, slow by comparison and the timetable means things like meeting a friend for coffee for an hour after work involves getting home at 9pm instead of 7pm.

Anyway, she was really looking forward to April 4th as the date they were apparently expecting the service to resume. They've done a magnificent job if they hit this date.

 

[ianrauk]

I'm hoping it's running for the weekend of the 11th as Son # 1 is coming up form Torquay that weekend.

 

[IDMark2]

Hope so, @ianrauk. As you know, this is one of the most dramatic and scenic rail routes in the country, but Devon County Council have just announced they started work to make the last link of cycle path between Dawlish and Exmouth on the opposite side of the Estuary.

This will be a brilliant route for family leisure, commuters between Exmouth and Exeter already use that half of it. It takes in two or three sections of nature reserves, goes through a stately home's Deer park and only just skirts the relatively noisy and busy Exeter. Looking forward to a bimble on both sides when it's finished, I already do 'my' side of it as a route, binos definitely a necessity.
http://www.devon.gov.uk/index/environmentplanning/public_rights_of_way/exeestuarytrail.htm

 

[IDMark2]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-26874503

OK from today, open for business.

 

[IDMark2]

@coffeejo Have you done the route? Really pretty, especially on a good weather day, don't do the weekend days if you don't fancy a 20 mile slalom ride though..

 

[coffeejo]

@coffeejo Have you done the route? Really pretty, especially on a good weather day, don't do the weekend days if you don't fancy a 20 mile slalom ride though..

Yup, several times. The food in the restaurant at the farm shop by the entrance to Powderham Castle is highly recommended.

 

[IDMark2]

OK, I have tended to do 'my side', from Topsham down to Exmouth, from there on to Budleigh using the old railway line, Otterton,where there's the old mill with cakes and bread made with the flour they still mill there, and then back through the River Otter way. I was really waiting for the Dawlish -Powderham section to be completed before riding to Exmouth, taking the path all the way round and then catching the ferry back to Exmouth from Star Cross.

 

[coffeejo]

I did an Exeter-Powderham-Topsham loop last year and did an extended version involving the Topsham and Star Cross ferries a couple of years ago. There were 15 or so of us and you've never seen so many bikes taking up such a small amount of space. The ferry operators cursed us. Lots.