WIND, rain and rough seas battering the South West peninsular have caused major damage to the sea wall at Dawlish carrying the Great Western Main line from Exeter through Devon into Cornwall.
Prior to the latest disruption, FGW had said there would be no trains between Exeter St David’s and Newton Abbot until at least Friday, 7 February. Now First Great Western is advising passengers not to travel anywhere west of Exeter St David’s, including the Cornish branch lines. FGW Sleeper services between London Paddington and Penzance are also cancelled until further notice.
CrossCountry services are not operating west of Taunton.
Julian Burnell, from Network Rail, was reported saying "hundreds of tonnes" of ballast had been dislodged from under the tracks after they had "taken a real pounding from the sea".
He added that Dawlish station had also been damaged by the weather.
Further east, a landslip at Botley, Hants, means trains cannot run between Eastleigh and Fareham, affecting both FGW and South West Trains’ services. The line is expected to be blocked “for a while,” according to National Rail Enquiries
In Sussex, Southeastern services are being hit because a landslip between Robertsbridge and Battle is causing disruption on the line between Tonbridge and Hastings.
On the coast of west Wales, the Machynlleth-Pwllhelli branch of the Cambrian Line remains closed as a result of damage caused by storm surges and flooding.
Network Rail said engineers were working hard to repair severe damage at a number of locations, including Tywyn, Barmouth and Criccieth, and it hoped that the section of line between Machynlleth and Barmouth will re-open during week commencing Monday 10 February.
But the line onwards from Barmouth to Pwllheli, which suffered “the most devastating damage,” will take longer to repair.