Reduced timetable for North Dorset train services due to emergency speed restriction
It's in place from today (Monday 5th September)
A new temporary, reduced timetable has been introduced by South Western Railway for some services through North Dorset due to a dried up track.
Last week an Emergency Speed Restriction was put in place between Tisbury in Wiltshire and Gillingham.
It's because the extremely hot and dry weather experienced recently has caused the clay embankments to dry out and shrink - leaving the track on top uneven and trains unable to travel at full speed.
Train services have had to be amended as the line is single track – meaning trains can’t pass each other outside of passing loops.
Trains are also taking approximately twice the normal length of time to run between Gillingham and Tisbury.
Services from Salisbury to Yeovil and to Exeter St Davids will be affected.
South Western Railway say:
- Services will generally run hourly between Waterloo & Yeovil Junction
- Services will generally run every two hours between Waterloo & Exeter St Davids
- Journey times will be amended and/or extended across most services on the route
SWR’s Managing Director Claire Mann said:
“After two weeks of delays and short-notice changes to our services, this decision to introduce a revised timetable will allow us to run a resilient service and at least provide certainty to our customers in the West of England. I am sorry to all those whose journeys will be affected as we wait for weather conditions to improve so Network Rail can safely remove the speed restriction.”
It's likely that the reduced timetable will be in place until October.
It's because engineers can't go and fix it until all the clay has dried out.
Network Rail’s Wessex Route Director, Mark Killick, said:
“We’re sorry for the disruption that our customers are seeing between Salisbury and Yeovil Junction, which is a direct result of the hot and dry conditions. We hope the amended timetable can give our customers confidence, but we do recognise that the reduced number of services and longer journey times will be disruptive. As soon as it is safe to remove the speed restriction, we will do so, but this may not be until October when we hope conditions will improve.”