“Extremes of feelings” is how Network Rail Programme Engineering Manager Emma Lewis contrasts the polar-opposite events at Dawlish on February 4 2014 and July 3 2023.
On that first date, high winds and strong waves punched a 100-metre hole through the Great Western Main Line’s Sea Wall defences alongside Riviera Terrace. Track was left dangling in mid-air, leaving Newton Abbot, Plymouth and Cornwall cut off from the railway world.
On the second date, Network Rail ceremoniously unveiled half a mile of rebuilt and re-engineered sea wall, representing the first £82 million investment in its massive South West Rail Resilience Programme (SWRRP).
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