Dawlish sea wall damaged by storm, trains cancelled

[Woody]

Trains between Exeter and Newton Abbot have been cancelled this morning due to more storm damage to the main railway line at Dawlish.All Great Western Railway and CrossCountry services have been suspended due to “significant damage”.
https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/dawlish-sea-wall-damaged-storm-1285826

Trains between Exeter and Newton Abbot have been cancelled this morning due to more storm damage to the main railway line at Dawlish.

The vulnerable line has been battered by high seas and fierce gales for the last couple of days.

All trains heading north out of Plymouth have been suspended until further notice, because of damage to the sea wall at Dawlish. It is understood there is rubble on the line.

Four years ago the line was washed away and stayed closed for months....

 

[davetheguard]

The line is currently blocked at Dawlish. Some of the lineside metal fence panels have been smashed by a combination of high tide & easterly wind, and are now lying in the four foot of the down line. The pictures were taken in the last hour.

 

[John Webb]

Also seems to be some debris visible on the Up line as well!

 

[MatthewRead]

I thought the last time the sea wall was damaged by storms it was 4 years ago in 2014 not 10 as the article says.

 

[edwin_m]

Glad to see it's superficial and ought to be fixable within a few hours, although possibly not before the sea goes down far enough to be safe to do so. Unless something else happens this isn't remotely comparable to the 2013 washout.

 

[WatcherZero]

Network Rail update

There is no structural damage to the sea wall, and the integrity of the railway itself has not been damaged, which is testimony to the quality of the strengthening works Network Rail delivered in 2014.

However, 10-15m of fencing and associated coping stones has been damaged, some of which is now lying on the railway. This needs to be made safe and Herras temporary fencing put in place. A substantial amount of ballast has been washed across the track along a 150m length of railway. Network Rail Engineers are now working to remove and replace the ballast.

Dawlish station itself has suffered minor damage, with wooden panels and handrails washed onto the track and a small section of the platform damaged. Network Rail is working to make the damage safe; clear up the station and cordon unsafe areas off in advance of station reopening.

Mark Langman, Network Rail Western route managing director, said: "Team Orange will be working round the clock to make the railway safe so that it can reopen. There will be no services on this line today and we will issue an update later today confirming when we expect to reopen this section of the railway. Currently reopening is anticipated to be within the next 24-36 hours."

 

[rd749249]

I'm hoping all that metal on the track circuits put the signals to danger. Would hate to think what could have happened if an express hit that at linespeed.

 

[AndrewE]

Given the amount of salt water that washes over those tracks I would expect them to be axle counters now. So no, metal won't be detected, neither will a broken rail (unless there is a special circuit through the tracks to detect one.)
I hadn't been aware of the panels on the sea-side track before, presumably they are to prevent the ballast washing away? They do look as though they provide a few more missiles for the sea to pick up and throw around though.

 

[davetheguard]

Given the amount of salt water that washes over those tracks I would expect them to be axle counters now. So no, metal won't be detected, neither will a broken rail (unless there is a special circuit through the tracks to detect one.)
I hadn't been aware of the panels on the sea-side track before, presumably they are to prevent the ballast washing away? They do look as though they provide a few more missiles for the sea to pick up and throw around though.

As an aside, does anyone know what the panels between the rails on the Down line to which Andrew E alludes are, and what their purpose is? They are a permanent fixture; not dumped there by the sea.

 

[MarkyT]

Given the amount of salt water that washes over those tracks I would expect them to be axle counters now. So no, metal won't be detected, neither will a broken rail (unless there is a special circuit through the tracks to detect one.)
I hadn't been aware of the panels on the sea-side track before, presumably they are to prevent the ballast washing away? They do look as though they provide a few more missiles for the sea to pick up and throw around though.

Back in Absolute Block days, there were very few track circuits along the sea wall, and non were critical in the sense of preventing block clearance. Exeter resignalling in the mid 1980s introduced continuous track circuits (predominantly the jointless TI21 type I think) along the entire length of the sea wall. After the first winter, operators realised the mistake and engineers at Reading were charged with making some urgent changes. Axle counters were known already, but they were a nascent technology in the UK at the time, so engineers quickly devised a clever temporary block working method that could be switched in using a keyswitch by the Exeter panel supervisor at times when sea spray was affecting reliability of the track circuits. Only the supervisor had a key for the switch so this prevented signallers using it without higher authority. The system effectively created a long Absolute Block section from Dawlish Warren to Teighnmouth and there were instructions in place for manually reporting trains clear of section, preferably involving signalling staff temporarily posted out at these locations where possible. When the temporary block working was switched in, all the track circuit controls in the signal circuits were bypassed and traffic could run comparatively freely, but capacity was limited, with a number of intermediate signals 'switched out'. A few years later, a more comprehensive scheme was prepared using axle counters to completely replace the track circuits throughout the area. A number of other weatherproofing measures including plastic cased equipment cabinets were also implemented. At the time I recall it was the the largest axle counter job ever undertaken in the UK. The axle counters eventually also extended for a a distance along the Exe estuary as well, where some reliability problems with track circuits had been encountered. Sorry I can't recall dates but I'd guess early to mid 1990s for the first big axle counter job at Dawlish.

Perhaps those panels between the rails actually help to protect the ballast from the effects of waves crashing down on the track. They must be fixed firmly to rail or sleeper I would guess as otherwise I agree they would be an additional hazard.

 

[E_Reeves]

Looks like there has been some serious flooding in Dawlish too. Just seen some videos on Facebook.

 

[HowardGWR]

I could agree, but both are needed and not just a cutoff but a high(er)speed improvement throughout, to Plymouth.

 

[edwin_m]

As an aside, does anyone know what the panels between the rails on the Down line to which Andrew E alludes are, and what their purpose is? They are a permanent fixture; not dumped there by the sea.

I read somewhere they are to reduce the amount of ballast that gets washed away. Obviously not totally successful today!

 

[jopsuk]

Amazing pictures posted of the station flooded today! Usually only see that for stations in cuttings.

 

[The Ham]

Although significantly less troublesome than last time, would it be true that (subject to the alternative being operational, which it may not have been due to snow) an alternative route could have been useful, given that I assume no trains could run over this section?

 

[MarkyT]

Amazing pictures posted of the station flooded today! Usually only see that for stations in cuttings.

I believe this was a particularly high tide coinciding with the storm surge coming in from the same direction. The road and seafront gardens behind the beach in Torquay was also flooded in a similar way. Very unusual, but the railway survived with only very superficial damage. Indeed it remained open thoughout Thursday through the storms when both the A38 and A380 were closed due to the ice and snow.

 

[8H]

What moneybags Cameron was carefully equivocating about in 2014 when he knew he had to look like action man prior to doing nowt

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-31042325

 

[Wirewiper]

Dawlish has reopened this morning, after the "Orange Army" battled all night in the appalling weather conditions - hats off to them!

GWR are saying that tickets valid on 1st and 2nd March will be accepted for travel up to Monday 5th March.

 

[Mag_seven]

Dawlish has reopened this morning, after the "Orange Army" battled all night in the appalling weather conditions - hats off to them!

My understanding is that it has been closed again due to flooding at the station.

 

[Wirewiper]

My understanding is that it has been closed again due to flooding at the station.

Difficult to know as GWR's Social Media presence appears to have gone into hiding ....

 

[Mag_seven]

Difficult to know as GWR's Social Media presence appears to have gone into hiding ....

NR's Western Route Twitter feed providing updates:

https://twitter.com/networkrailwest?lang=en

Latest update:

Line at Dawlish cleared for safe use in direction Penzance to London only. Exceptional conditions and high Spring tides but the line up to London now safe and open for use. Waiting on update on line in reverse direction down to Penzance.

 

[HowardGWR]

I believe this was a particularly high tide coinciding with the storm surge coming in from the same direction. The road and seafront gardens behind the beach in Torquay was also flooded in a similar way. Very unusual, but the railway survived with only very superficial damage. Indeed it remained open thoughout Thursday through the storms when both the A38 and A380 were closed due to the ice and snow.

It may be due to the force of the waves. This was proved to me when I was a little boy at Sidmouth in similar weather. My cousin and I were standing next to the railings with our fathers behind us. A huge wave smacked against the wall and went clean over the top of us but our parents, standing behind a few yards, were soaked.

I now realise that our parents had not behaved too cleverly, letting us stand there anyway, now I think of it.

 

[AndrewE]

https://twitter.com/jonkay01/status/969845551356358656 is worth a look,
Seeing this I'm a bit surprised that the track hasn't been reconstructed on concrete beams perched over a deep drainage trough or similar. (something like a coal drop or staithe)

 

[Wirewiper]

https://twitter.com/jonkay01/status/969845551356358656 is worth a look,
Seeing this I'm a bit surprised that the track hasn't been reconstructed on concrete beams perched over a deep drainage trough or similar. (something like a coal drop or staithe)

The Sea Wall also protects the town of Dawlish so I am not sure that this type of modification would be suitable.

 

[AndrewE]

The Sea Wall also protects the town of Dawlish so I am not sure that this type of modification would be suitable.

I meant just the trackbed inside the existing/new sea-wall, rather than an exposed skeletal viaduct...

 

[MarkyT]

https://twitter.com/jonkay01/status/969845551356358656 is worth a look,
Seeing this I'm a bit surprised that the track hasn't been reconstructed on concrete beams perched over a deep drainage trough or similar. (something like a coal drop or staithe)

An interesting idea but practically in order to avoid having to close the line for a couple of years during construction, you'd have to build a new alignment on such a structure further out which would bring its own challenges not least establishing new footings right out onto the beach. One benefit of that would be placing the tracks further from the troublesome cliff faces but fitting in with existing tunnels would be complicated though as by necessity you'd have to approach the cliffs in their vicinity to enter the portals, so you might end up having to reconstruct the new alignment around those as well... and rebuild Dawlish station. An inland bypass might actually be cheaper in the end, and certainly less disruptive. Don't want to get too involved in discussing such alternatives on this particular thread however as the moderators' big shears may be hovering once again.

 

[edwin_m]

https://twitter.com/jonkay01/status/969845551356358656 is worth a look,
Seeing this I'm a bit surprised that the track hasn't been reconstructed on concrete beams perched over a deep drainage trough or similar. (something like a coal drop or staithe)

There would have to be some holes at the bottom of the trough to drain it back into the sea, which would also be a route by which water could find its way in. I assume there are already drains under the ballast so any water splashed onto the track finds its way back onto the beach, but these would be much higher up. And the bit between the trough and the beach would have to withstand the full force of the waves, unlike the present arrangement where the solid material under the tracks assists with this.

 

[davetheguard]

All trains at Dawlish running via the reversable Up line between crossovers at Dawlish Warren and at Teignmouth this afternoon.

 

[AndrewE]

There would have to be some holes at the bottom of the trough to drain it back into the sea, which would also be a route by which water could find its way in. I assume there are already drains under the ballast so any water splashed onto the track finds its way back onto the beach, but these would be much higher up. And the bit between the trough and the beach would have to withstand the full force of the waves, unlike the present arrangement where the solid material under the tracks assists with this.

Of course, I agree with all of that. How about:

Remove existing track and ballast
core-drill large diameter holes (25cm?) diagonally down towards the sea through all the concrete and steel they put in last year and fit non-return flaps on the outlets (or just connect into the existing drains if they are big enough, which looks doubtful)
build the new concrete track-support structures (a bit like the old broad gauge baulk road but on concrete pillars) in place of the current ballast
relay the rails on top.​

It might have to be subject to a speed restriction but that I doubt that would be a major problem given the local line speed. I would suggest that it could be done in a succession of complete possessions, a few hundred metres per year, maybe each autumn.
Build the by-pass as well, of course!

 

[edwin_m]

I think any staff member climbing down from a train would be at risk of falling into the trough and injuring themselves. Not to mention how do PW staff maintain the track if they can't get to it.