Cumbria and Devon

[38Cto15E]

These two counties seem to get the worst of the British weather, is there a case for allocating more funds to these two areas to improve the infastructure so that it is able to stand up more rigorously to the high winds, landslips, high tides etc.
Nowadays the slightest bit of bad weather seems to bring the main line railways of Cumbria and Devon to a halt.

 

[Joy4Rail]

In a perfect world, they'd reopen & dual the old Dartmoor to Plymouth line (bypassing Dawlish & all the bad weather they experience down there) (+ dualing Exeter - Axminster - Yeovil (don't get me started on that xD)) but I'd be amazed if it happened within my lifetime.

 

[quantinghome]

In a perfect world, they'd reopen & dual the old Dartmoor to Plymouth line (bypassing Dawlish & all the bad weather they experience down there) (+ dualing Exeter - Axminster - Yeovil (don't get me started on that xD)) but I'd be amazed if it happened within my lifetime.

The Dartmoor line experiences bad weather too, including significant flooding, so reopening to Plymouth is no guarantee of anything. In fact during the recent bad weather the Dawlish line (shut for one day) performed MUCH better than the Dartmoor line (shut for two weeks).

 

[Joy4Rail]

The Dartmoor line experiences bad weather too, including significant flooding, so reopening to Plymouth is no guarantee of anything. In fact during the recent bad weather the Dawlish line (shut for one day) performed MUCH better than the Dartmoor line (shut for two weeks).

I don't disagree , the whole area needs further investment in rail infrastructure.. Though being on the last train through Dawlish before the line closed in 2014 was an experience I won't forget in a while !

 

[thenorthern]

Regarding Cumbria it tends to be the rural branch lines that are affected. When the West Coast Main Line is closed, it's very quickly fixed. From what I can see it's 64 miles from Gretna Junction to Milnthorpe which is as good as the entire West Coast Main Line distance in Cumbria. I think Cumbria may have more miles of West Coast Main line than any other county. Disruption per mile of track I wouldn't say the West Coast Main Line in Cumbria has more disruption than other counties.

With the rural branch lines that is another matter. As they are not very well used it's not really a priority to spend a lot of money.

 

[I'm here now]

In a perfect world, they'd reopen & dual the old Dartmoor to Plymouth line (bypassing Dawlish & all the bad weather they experience down there) (+ dualing Exeter - Axminster - Yeovil (don't get me started on that xD)) but I'd be amazed if it happened within my lifetime.

A high speed bypass of dawlish would reap greater benefits - I.e. journey times, capacity for the Devon metro and future proofed climate resilience