📋 Tender Overview
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 RegionS 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 SwrS 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 RailS 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. Network Rail Began Recording Soil Moisture Levels In 2009. Levels At Some Sites In The Southern Region, Which Stretches From Kent To East Devon, Are At Their Lowest Since Those Records Began. Many Of The Victorian-Era Railway Embankments That Support Tracks Across The Southern Region Are Made Of Clay, Which Absorbs A Lot Of Water And Severely Shrinks When It Is Dry. In Very High Temperatures Clay Soil Dries Out Through Heat Radiation, And Any Remaining Water In The Ground Is Then Soaked Up By Trees And Other Vegetation. As The Soil Dries Out, It Shrinks, Disturbing The Track Above It. More Information On Soil Moisture Deficit, And How It Can Affect The Railway, Can Be Found Passengers / Community Members Network Rail National Helpline 03457 11 41 41 Latest Travel Advice Please Journalists Tom Moore Communications Manager Network Rail 07354531500 We Own, Operate And Develop BritainS Railway Infrastructure; ThatS 20,000 Miles Of , 30,000 And The Thousands Of , Level Crossings And Stations. We Run 20 Of The UkS Largest While All The Others, Over 2,500, Are Run By The CountryS . Usually, There Are Almost Five Million Journeys Made In The Uk And Over 600 Freight Trains Run On The Network. People Depend On BritainS Railway For Their Daily Commute, To Visit Friends And Loved Ones And To Get Them Home Safe Every Day. Our Role Is To Deliver , So We Carefully Manage And Deliver Thousands Of Projects Every Year That Form Part Of The , To Grow And Expand The NationS Railway Network To Respond To The Tremendous Growth And Demand The Railway Has Experienced - A Doubling Of Passenger Journeys Over The Past 20 Years. Follow Us On Twitter: Visit Our Online Newsroom:
