Crewkerne station

[whole diary]

[infoman]

Could SWR^» (South Western Railway - about) run Salisbury Westbury Taunton and return?

[IndustryInsider]

Could SWR^» (South Western Railway - about) run Salisbury Westbury Taunton and return?

Happy to be corrected, but I don't think their crew sign beyond Castle Cary.  In normal times you might be able to borrow GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) crews to pilot SWR crew, but even if that was considered worthwhile there's no chance of it with the overtime ban in place this week.

[bradshaw]

The buildings adjacent to the line are the remains of the brickworks set up to provide the bricks for the tunnel. It was then used commercially for some time.
The tunnel goes through the Bridport Sands, a permeable rock allowing water to pass through. It then meets the clay and emerges at or near the meeting level.
A similar situation is seen on the Dorset Coast at West Bay.

[bradshaw]

It would seem that the drainage channels had not been cleared for some time

@NetworkRailWssx digs 100 tonnes of clay, soil and vegetation from the drainage channels around Crewkerne tunnel   

Paul Clifton on Twitter. https://x.com/paulcliftonbbc/status/1732104284815134871?s=61&t=VlafMC5gF9tidw36b1Y8JQ
The thread indicates this is the third time is as many years they have had major problems at this location.

[Timmer]

SWR^» (South Western Railway - about) now saying tunnel closed until at least Monday 11th of December.

[Mark A]

The buildings adjacent to the line are the remains of the brickworks set up to provide the bricks for the tunnel. It was then used commercially for some time.
The tunnel goes through the Bridport Sands, a permeable rock allowing water to pass through. It then meets the clay and emerges at or near the meeting level.
A similar situation is seen on the Dorset Coast at West Bay.

Wow, the same rock as at Combe Down Tunnel (and, there, presumably a deliberate choice).

Mark

[JayMac]

I suspect SWR^» (South Western Railway - about) will be looking at the engineering works RRB^▸ (Rail Replacement Bus) timetable and vehicle availability to see if they can run buses between Salisbury and Axminster. Both limited stop and all stations services ideally.

[Timmer]

SWR^» (South Western Railway - about) are now operating a 2 hourly shuttle service between Salisbury and Yeovil Junction via Westbury.

Rail replacement buses are operating between Salisbury and Yeovil Junction subject to weather conditions.

No alternative arrangements in place between Yeovil Junction and Exeter.

Above summary gleaned from SWR website:

What's Going On

Due to a landslip between Exeter St Davids and Salisbury all lines are blocked. Train services running through these stations will be cancelled. Disruption is expected until the end of the day 10/12/23.

What We're Doing About It

On Monday 4 December, heavy rain and flooding caused a landslip at Crewkerne tunnel, blocking the line between Salisbury and Exeter St David’s.

Following an assessment on Tuesday 5 it was confirmed that the tunnel will be closed until Monday 11 December.

As a result, we are advising you not to attempt to travel between Salisbury and Exeter St David’s until Monday 11 December.

Service summaries for Friday 8, Saturday 9 & Sunday 10 can be seen below:

Friday 8 December

There will be no service between Yeovil Junction and Exeter St David’s
A rail shuttle service will operate between Salisbury and Yeovil Junction via Westbury
Due to safety checks following adverse weather. rail replacement bus services will only operate after 08:00 between Salisbury and Yeovil Junction

Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 December

There will be no service between Yeovil Junction and Exeter St David’s
A rail shuttle service will operate between Salisbury and Yeovil Junction via Westbury
Adverse weather is expected which is likely to affect rail replacement bus services between Salisbury and Yeovil Junction.

Monday 11 December

The line between Salisbury and Exeter St David’s is expected to re-open

Please do not attempt to travel between Salisbury and Exeter St David’s until Monday 11th December.

[Timmer]

Looks like the Yeovil Junction to Salisbury shuttles are now running through to Basingstoke.

[Timmer]

Line between Yeovil and Exeter won’t reopen until Wednesday. Line between Salisbury and Yeovil reopens as planned following engineering work tomorrow:
https://x.com/paulcliftonbbc/status/1733889758256902437?s=61

I’m all for carrying out engineering work for longer periods during the week, but feel the closure between Salisbury and Yeovil for more than two weeks has been a bit too long.

[Mark A]

Walking away from e.g. Honiton to Exeter was poor. Not sure what regular travellers have had to do to work round that.

Mark

[Timmer]

Walking away from e.g. Honiton to Exeter was poor. Not sure what regular travellers have had to do to work round that.

Mark

Totally agree, very poor. Can’t use industrial action as an excuse not to run a shuttle service between Axminster and Exeter now. By Wednesday, stations along this part of the route would have been without a train or replacement bus for 8 days.

[Mark A]

Catching a train back down to St David's last November from Exeter Central, this was the view of the opposite platform, photo timestamped at 17:26. The platform handles the Exmouth services as well, but from the spread along the platform, I suspect that this was largely the home-from-work passenger load for the SWR^» (South Western Railway - about) line and many of them would have had their travel needs met by a service as far as Axminster.

Mark

[JayMac]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-67679444

A railway line that has been closed for a week due to a landslip has reopened.

Network Rail said engineers worked throughout the weekend to remove 300 tonnes of materials on the track near Crewkerne tunnel in Somerset.

Efforts to restore some of the line were hampered by further adverse weather conditions, in particular strong winds, it added.

The line between Salisbury and Yeovil Junction is now running as normal.

Trains between London Waterloo and Yeovil Junction are also running, but the line between Yeovil Junction and Exeter St David's will remain closed until Wednesday, a spokesperson for Network Rail said.

More than 90mm (9cm) of sustained heavy rain over 48 hours caused the landslip above the Crewkerne tunnel last week.

With bad weather continuing, it made it unsafe for engineers to use a tall crane essential to complete work and repair the landslip.

Network Rail is advising customers not to attempt to travel between Yeovil Junction and Exeter St David's before Wednesday and to continue to check for travel updates.

"We're sorry for any inconvenience caused by these essential works... [but] with the weather set to improve, we hope to be able to make good progress over the coming days," the spokesperson added.

BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) seem a bit confused here. Yes Salisbury to Yeovil has reopened, but that's due to completion of engineering works, not following a landslip.

Yeovil to Exeter still closed as work on Crewkerne Tunnel continues.

BBC seem a bit confused here. Yes Salisbury to Yeovil has reopened, but that's due to completion of engineering works, not following a landslip. And Salisbury to Yeovil has been closed for three weeks, not one.

Yeovil to Exeter is still closed as work on Crewkerne Tunnel continues. They got that bit right at the end but have conflated the two separate closures.

[Mark A]

They've jumped the gun as the closure at Crewkerne's extended 'till (currently) Wednesday. Something that was announced with little notice, mind.

Mark