Crewkerne station to close from 28th July (Re-opening 11th August)

[Robski]

Network Rail Wessex route have announced that Crewkerne station will close from Monday 28th July until further notice to improve punctuality as a result of a four mile long 40mph TSR in place west of Salisbury due to dry track beds.

Plan ahead – buses to serve Crewkerne station from Monday 28 July due to dried out railway embankments

South Western Railway services between London Waterloo and Exeter St Davids will not call at Crewkerne from Monday 28 July, until further notice Rail replacement bus services will operate between Yeovil Junction and Axminster in both directions, calling at Crewkerne Dried out railway embankments...

www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk

Plan ahead – buses to serve Crewkerne station from Monday 28 July due to dried out railway embankments​

Region & Route: Southern: Wessex | Southern

• South Western Railway services between London Waterloo and Exeter St Davids will not call at Crewkerne from Monday 28 July, until further notice
• Rail replacement bus services will operate between Yeovil Junction and Axminster in both directions, calling at Crewkerne
• Dried out railway embankments west of Salisbury mean further changes to trains on the West of England Line are likely over the summer
• Customers are advised to plan ahead and regularly check for updates

SOUTH Western Railway (SWR) services between London Waterloo and Exeter St Davids will not call at Crewkerne from Monday 28 July until further notice.

Following the region’s driest spring since 1836 and a prolonged dry spell continuing into the summer, which is forecasted to be the driest for 200 years, clay embankments between Salisbury and Axminster have dried out and shrunk. The condition known as ‘soil moisture deficit’ has disturbed the levels of the tracks above, meaning trains cannot travel safely at their normal speeds.

A temporary speed restriction of 40mph will be implemented over four miles in the Crewkerne area and, due to the impact of slower running trains on the wider West of England Line timetable, trains will not call at Crewkerne station.

Train services between London Waterloo and Exeter St Davids will otherwise continue to run as per SWR’s regular timetable. However, Crewkerne station will only be served by a rail replacement bus service, connecting to Yeovil Junction and Axminster.

Buses will connect with arriving trains at Yeovil Junction and Axminster, with journeys taking approximately 30 minutes in both directions. Customers are advised to allow extra time to complete their journeys.

As hot and dry conditions are expected to continue, SWR and Network Rail are warning that additional speed restrictions and further timetable amendments on the West of England Line are likely to be necessary over the summer.

SWR and Network Rail continue to monitor soil moisture levels, track conditions, and train performance, and will provide updates as soon as possible.

Customers are advised to plan ahead and regularly check the SWR website.

Speaking on behalf of Network Rail and South Western Railway, Tom McNamee, Network Rail’s Wessex Route Infrastructure Director, said: “We are very sorry for the disruption that customers travelling to and from Crewkerne will experience from Monday 28 July. The hot and dry conditions being felt across the south of England has disturbed track near Crewkerne, and it cannot be fixed until the conditions change. As a result, we have had to introduce a severe speed restriction.

“We have carefully studied the impact and, unfortunately, it will not be possible to operate a safe and reliable timetable while calling at Crewkerne. Regular customers will know that repeated delays in this area have a cumulative effect, and without changes, they can lead to widespread cancellations and large gaps between services, from London to Exeter.

“We are monitoring soil moisture levels across the Southern Region and the indications are that more timetable changes will have to follow on the West of England Line. We will continue to carefully monitor and give customers as much notice as possible.”

 

[HS2isgood]

To be honest, it's dumb. Better to be a bit late.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Tbh it's dumb. Better to be a bit late.

Not on that line with its long single track sections. On a double track line (or a single track where running late would be less of an issue e.g. Ormskirk-Preston or the Conwy Valley) I'd agree.

 

[HS2isgood]

Not on that line with its long single track sections. On a double track line (or a single track where running late would be less of an issue e.g. Ormskirk-Preston or the Conwy Valley) I'd agree.

To be fair, delays can cascade, so yeah it might be OK. Still a bad look by Network Rail.

 

[ABDeltic]

Network Rail Wessex route have announced that Crewkerne station will close from Monday 28th July until further notice to improve punctuality as a result of a four mile long 40mph TSR in place west of Salisbury due to dry track beds.

Plan ahead – buses to serve Crewkerne station from Monday 28 July due to dried out railway embankments

South Western Railway services between London Waterloo and Exeter St Davids will not call at Crewkerne from Monday 28 July, until further notice Rail replacement bus services will operate between Yeovil Junction and Axminster in both directions, calling at Crewkerne Dried out railway embankments...

www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk

There seem to be a few trains skipping Crewkerne this week, 0620 HON - WAT, 0725 EXD - WAT among otherss. As usual with SWR you have to look deep into the website to find any information and all I can find about Crewkerne is that it won't be served from Monday 28th. I can see the reasoning but it's a long bus journey to both Axminster and Yeovil Jn.

 

[takno]

To be fair, delays can cascade, so yeah it might be OK. Still a bad look by Network Rail.

I don't think they have any real choice. The alternative is basically to retime the journey to take longer. Which likely adds 20-30 minutes once you've figured in all the single track sections, and means that you'd have to cancel something like 20% of the services. Being proactive and implementing the best approach for the vast majority of customers seems like a pretty good look to me.

 

[ABDeltic]

I don't think they have any real choice. The alternative is basically to retime the journey to take longer. Which likely adds 20-30 minutes once you've figured in all the single track sections, and means that you'd have to cancel something like 20% of the services. Being proactive and implementing the best approach for the vast majority of customers seems like a pretty good look to me.

Yes although it seems drastic it's better than reducing the service to two hourly which is what they did 2 years ago, I think.

 

[The exile]

More ammunition for the part redoubling cause!

 

[Hellfire]

Its my local station so excuse what might be a silly question but, if trains are still running over the line, what difference does it make whether they stop at Crewkerne or not given the dwell time there tends to be quite short. Or is the line being closed altogether between Yeovil Jnc and Axminster?

 

[ABDeltic]

Its my local station so excuse what might be a silly question but, if trains are still running over the line, what difference does it make whether they stop at Crewkerne or not given the dwell time there tends to be quite short. Or is the line being closed altogether between Yeovil Jnc and Axminster?

The line is still open but the stop accounts for 3 to 4 minutes in running time allowing for braking and accelerating from the station.

 

[Bletchleyite]

It should be added that the reason it's "until further notice" is that the trackbed is effectively subsiding, and doing work to fix subsidence generally requires waiting until the land has stopped moving otherwise it'll just happen again (e.g. the Snake Pass, or even more extreme the closed Mam Tor road). Network Rail explain this in the video they link to on their web page about it.

It is not an intention to permanently close the station.

 

[embers25]

It's great that all those lengthy line closures to stabilise the line in the Crewkerne area worked...yet another Network Rail Wessex Failure.

It's worrying that it's still moving too as hopefully it won't properly subside.

The fun part comes with the additional issue of the road near Crewkerne Station being closed between 8am and 6pm on weekdays for 22 days from July 31. Wonder if Network Rail and SWR realise this, although the buses usually don't go that way.

https://somersetleveller.co.uk/moto...-for-almost-a-month-during-electricity-works/

 

[dgl]

They need to spend the money on more passing loops and maybe even properly fix the defects than just deciding to not serve Crewkerne.
This is no some brand new issue that they've just had to deal with in the past weeks so you'd thought they'd be plans already thought up that still gave Crewkerne some sort of service.

 

[yorksrob]

More ammunition for the part redoubling cause!

Indeed. It's simply too long a main line to be single track in this day and age. I wonder how much such ongoing problems could contribute to the business case.

 

[Bletchleyite]

The fun part comes with the additional issue of the road near Crewkerne Station being closed between 8am and 6pm on weekdays for 22 days from July 31. Wonder if Network Rail and SWR realise this, although the buses usually don't go that way.

As the station is on the edge of town, a stop nearer town would to some extent offset the inconvenience of the change. It might mean them needing to register it as a local bus service, though?

Anyone driving to the station will probably just drive to a different one during the period of closure.

 

[Zomboid]

They need to spend the money on more passing loops and maybe even properly fix the defects than just deciding to not serve Crewkerne

Whilst that may be the case, it's not fixable in the next few weeks.

 

[devon_belle]

If the weather continues to be very dry then at what stage will more TSRs and station closures be needed? Hopefully the local MPs kick up an absolute storm about this!

 

[Starmill]

If the weather continues to be very dry then at what stage will more TSRs and station closures be needed? Hopefully the local MPs kick up an absolute storm about this!

It would take a lot of rain showers spread out over a long time to raise moisture levels in the ground. Some ground has been left to dry out and also baked in hot sunshine so the next time it rains the water just runs off without as much absorption as usual.

The information in the public domain suggests that the line is at risk in several locations simultaneously from unusually wet weather for flooding and landslips, also unusually dry weather from subsidence.

 

[RPI]

Here we go again!

 

[dgl]

Whilst that may be the case, it's not fixable in the next few weeks.

My issue was that they've had the same issues in previous years yet haven't seemed to fix the issue, if it was something that was a brand new issue then you can understand, but less so if it's a previous issue resurfacing.

 

[geoffk]

It would be strange if this line is the only one affected by dried out embankments.

 

[YorkshireBear]

My issue was that they've had the same issues in previous years yet haven't seemed to fix the issue, if it was something that was a brand new issue then you can understand, but less so if it's a previous issue resurfacing.

This isn't landslips. Some soil types shrink when the weather is dry, end of. It causes havoc, always has, always will and the swing between wetter winters and dryer summers will make it worse as the delta in soil moisture changes. It also causes problems when they swell back up again as they rarely do it evenly, areas of embankment where streams cross for example will wet up and swell first.

You can't fix it (affordably). You can manage it, you but that's the best case generally (exceptions to the rule exist), which includes removing high water demand trees amongst other things.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 22 Jul 2025 ==

It would be strange if this line is the only one affected by dried out embankments.

It definitely isn't the only one.

 

[Zomboid]

My issue was that they've had the same issues in previous years yet haven't seemed to fix the issue, if it was something that was a brand new issue then you can understand, but less so if it's a previous issue resurfacing.

It'll probably come down to a couple of things
1. Where will the money to properly fix it come from?
2. Is that more or less than the cost of doing this?

I suspect that the cost of a permanent fix is high compared to the cost of skipping one station for a few weeks.

 

[RPI]

I honestly think they'd be better running a 2 hourly service west of Yeovil with plenty of padding, the problem with the West of England line (well, one of the many problems) is that there really isn't any margin for error with the passing loops, an example, in the past twelve months I don't think I've departed from Pinhoe on the up without being delayed by a down train, admittedly it's mostly 1-4 minutes, but its just an example of how tightly timed everything is along there.

Skipping Crewkerne isn't going to go down well, we're talking of a relatively busy station with a fair catchment area that could potentially be train-less for months if the weather stays dry.

 

[Xavi]

The same problem with embankment shrinkage occurred near Gillingham several years ago resulting in halving the service for months followed by a lengthy line closure to implement a long-term solution. Most closures in the Axminster / Crewkerne area have related to works to minimise the risk of flooding.

As others have mentioned here, it would be refreshing to see any repairs combined with works to facilitate some much needed doubling of the line. There would be cost savings compared with two separate projects.

 

[30907]

As others have mentioned here, it would be refreshing to see any repairs combined with works to facilitate some much needed doubling of the line. There would be cost savings compared with two separate projects.

That's assuming that doubling of the section concerned is specifically required - as opposed to "redoubling is ipso facto good."

 

[The exile]

It would be strange if this line is the only one affected by dried out embankments.

It might be the only one with long single track sections and no slack in the timetable because of them.

 

[Xavi]

Skipping Crewkerne isn't going to go down well, we're talking of a relatively busy station with a fair catchment area that could potentially be train-less for months if the weather stays dry.

I agree, though neither would halving the well used service from Axminster through to Exeter.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 22 Jul 2025 ==

That's assuming that doubling of the section concerned is specifically required - as opposed to "redoubling is ipso facto good."

Agreed, though there have been several studies indicating that some doubling west of Yeovil Junction and extending from Axminster towards Crewkerne (Chard Junction) would improve reliability of the existing timetable.

 

[Starmill]

That's assuming that doubling of the section concerned is specifically required - as opposed to "redoubling is ipso facto good."

Indeed - the idea of extending the double track to run... exactly the same service as today is never going to find it easy to demonstrate value for money... Yes, performance is obviously a meaningful benefit, as is being able to flex the timetable structure slightly to accommodate constraints elsewhere. But it's still hard to show that many tens of millions of pounds are well spent on that.

A slight increase to permissible speeds might be easier to demonstrate value from, as you may be able to get all the same benefits only with saving three lots of half a minute in various places along the single line. However to be realistic this would need several sections of at least a few kilometres where there are no level crossings or risky earthworks / structures. I suspect such stretches just don't exist along the parts where the time needs to be saved. You may also only see this benefit once modern rolling stock is introduced to the line, which is still years and years off.

 

[Xavi]

You may also only see this benefit once modern rolling stock is introduced to the line, which is still years and years off.

The current 158/9s are about to commence a C6 which will give 8 years more service, and they’ll then be 40 years old when next due a C6.

the idea of extending the double track to run... exactly the same service as today is never going to find it easy to demonstrate value for money

The proposed doubling on the WofE route in NR studies is to provide an all-day half-hourly service west of Axminster / Honiton, and east of Yeovil, plus resilience for GWR diversions, which is where improvements between Yeovil and Axminster are required. That’s not the same service, though there would, of course, be performance benefits.