The BBC article has been updated with news of the latest developments, which I am quoting selectively here:

Luke Farley - in the recent CILT GWR presentation earlier this week - I *think*, mentioned that the seating pads & backs are being redesigned & replaced at some stage in the not to distant future - so it'll be interesting to hear what Mark has to say.

No Sleeper either way tonight due to bad weather forecasted for Dawlish.

The local trains don't seem to be cancelled and what does it mean for the 175 stock move from Wolverton this afternoon?

Yes full line closure this evening, last through service Paddinton to Penzance is the 1503, after this buses from Tiverton Parkway to Plymouth provided. Sleepers are cancelled.

£18k compensation for blind man who fell on tracks

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Abdul Eneser, 23, fell onto the tracks at Manchester Piccadilly railway station after pre-booked help failed to arrive

A blind student narrowly avoided being hit by a train after he fell onto the tracks because no station staff were there to meet him at the end of his journey.

Abdul Eneser, 23, was supposed to be met by a pre-booked assistance service when he got off his train at Manchester Piccadilly station in May 2022. But as it was after midnight, there was no-one to meet him and he fell onto the tracks while trying to find the stairs.

Network Rail denied liability but has paid £18,000 in compensation to Eneser, who said "poor accessibility in rail travel is not just a one-off issue".

Eneser, who was a masters law student at the University of Strathclyde at the time, had booked Passenger Assist in advance but arrived by train at the station on a later service than planned after missing a connection because of delays.

Avanti West Coast staff at Preston told him they would radio through to Manchester Piccadilly to tell them he was on the train, but when he arrived after midnight there was no-one there to meet him. He was later told all Passenger Assist staff had gone home.

After falling onto the tracks, he managed to pull himself back onto the platform one minute before a non-stop freight train passed through on the same tracks, solicitors representing him said.

Law firm Leigh Day said there had been no tactile flooring at the platform, such as raised-studs, to inform visually impaired and blind people of approaching hazards such as the platform edge.

Eneser injured his knees, hands and neck and suffers from ongoing anxiety after the incident. He said his case was about more than just compensation. "I'm not always sure that I'll be met with the right level of support to complete my journeys," he said. "At the best of times, it makes travel stressful, and in the worst-case scenario it can be really dangerous."

Eneser's experience followed the death in 2020 of blind charity worker Cleveland Gervais, 53, who fell from a platform and was struck by a train at Eden Park station in Beckenham, south-east London. There had been no tactile paving at that station.

A Network Rail spokesperson said: "We are extremely sorry for the experience Abdul Eneser suffered at Manchester Piccadilly. We let him down and have offered him our full and unreserved apology. We recognise that there is much to do to make the railway more accessible for all and are working closely with industry partners to deliver these improvements across the rail network as quickly as we can."

In July last year, the Department for Transport said the roll out of tactile paving across all railway stations in Britain had been completed.

I've read Spain's train drivers are going on strike

Spanish train drivers call three-day strike after deadly derailments

MADRID, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Spain's biggest train drivers' union on Wednesday called a three-day nationwide strike for February 9-11 to demand measures to guarantee railway safety after three derailments in 48 hours caused crashes that left dozens dead, including two drivers.

A commuter train derailed on Tuesday after a retaining wall collapsed onto the track during heavy rains in Gelida, near Barcelona, killing the driver and seriously injuring four passengers.

It came after two trains collided on Sunday near Adamuz in the southern province of Cordoba, in one of Europe's worst train accidents. A train driver was among the 43 people who died.

A large piece of machinery found near the Adamuz crash site may be the missing chunk of undercarriage that investigators have been searching for to determine why the accident happened, a source and experts said on Wednesday.

Transport Minister Oscar Puente told reporters that investigators had analysed and taken pictures of that piece, adding that it appeared logical to believe the piece flew out into a stream after the two trains collided.

Puente said authorities are working towards resuming the Madrid-Andalucia rail link, which has been suspended since Sunday's accident, on February 2.

A third derailment of a train on Barcelona's regional network on Tuesday, which left no injuries, was caused by a rock falling on the line during the same storm, rail network operator Adif said.

"The serious accidents in Adamuz and Gelida, both with fatalities, are a turning point in demanding all necessary actions to guarantee the safety of railway operations," the train operators' union SEMAF said in a statement.

It added that it would demand criminal liability from "those responsible for ensuring safety in the railway infrastructure".

UNION HAD WARNED OF WEAR AND TEAR

SEMAF had warned Adif in a letter last August of severe wear and tear to the railway track where the two trains crashed, according to a copy of the letter seen by Reuters, saying potholes, bumps, and imbalances in overhead power lines were causing frequent breakdowns and damaging the trains on several of the network's high-speed lines.

"We do not share (the view) that a general strike is the best approach," Puente told reporters, adding that he would meet with unions.

He ruled out the Adamuz accident being triggered by a human factor but said the technical cause has not been yet determined and appeared to be very complex.

He said small marks were found on the front bogies of the derailed train and some earlier trains, but said it would be premature to link them directly to infrastructure defects.

PRISING APART THE CARRIAGE

Rescuers at the Adamuz crash site found another body, increasing the death toll to 43, as they prised apart the second carriage of the train belonging to state operator Renfe, which contained its cafeteria, the Andalusian regional government said in a statement.

Overnight they had used cranes to remove one of the final carriages of the derailed train run by private consortium Iryo from the scene.

Puente said the time between the derailment and the collision was just nine seconds, giving the trains no time to brake. Authorities had previously said the gap was 20 seconds.

Recordings of the phone calls between the driver of the Iryo train and the control centre in Madrid suggest he and passengers travelling in the front five carriages hadn't initially realised there had been a crash with another train, Puente said.

It was only after climbing down from the train to inspect it and seeing the damage to the rear carriages that he made another call to ask for ambulances to be sent.

Adif said on Wednesday it had introduced a further speed limit on the Madrid-Barcelona line after a driver had reported poor conditions on the track in a 78-kilometre stretch.

On Tuesday, it had ordered drivers to limit their speed because of concerns about the state of the track. Its maintenance team had worked overnight to inspect the line and found four points that needed to be repaired, Adif said in a statement. 

Trains travelling between Madrid and the eastern city of Valencia have also been ordered to cap their speed on a 1.8-km stretch of the line, Adif said on Wednesday.     

Regional trains across Catalonia were suspended on Wednesday to allow for track inspections after recent storms.

Renfe posted a photo of its President Alvaro Fernandez Heredia using a replacement bus service as he travelled back to Madrid from Adamuz.

It happened yesterday and I think Monday too.   High tide at Teignmouth this morning was 08:03 at nearly 15ft coupled with strong southerly winds.