Heart of Wessex line to close for five days in October

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Heart of Wessex line to close for five days in October

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Compactors at Thornford
Compactors at Thornford // Credit: Network Rail

For five days next month, Great Western Railway (GWR) trains between Yeovil Pen Mill and Weymouth will be replaced by buses while Network Rail engineers upgrade the track on the .

From Monday, 16 to Friday, 20 October, engineers will be working around the clock to replace approximately 758 metres of 70-year-old track between and in Cattistock. The work is required because the present track is outdated and in need of renewal so that it can brought up to modern standards. This will help reduce the number of speed restrictions that are imposed during hot weather, and help to ensure more reliable and smoother journeys.

Yeovil Pen Mill
Yeovil Pen Mill // Credit: Great Western Railway

As well as track replacement, engineers will erect scaffolding at Evershot tunnel so that the brickwork can be repaired and repointed.

Earlier this year in February and March the line between Castle Cary/Yeovil Pen Mill and Weymouth was closed for successive five-day periods to carry out multiple improvements, including:

  • Renewing over 1,800 metres of track and replacing old wooden sleepers with new, more durable concrete ones through Thornford station.
  • Repairing and refurbishing the canopies at Maiden Newton station and repainting the station building.
  • Installing new tactile paving at Yeovil Pen Mill station.
  • Clearing overgrown vegetation and carrying out maintenance on vital items of railway infrastructure along the line.

The line was also closed for five days in 20211 between Dorchester West and Castle Cary for improvements to be carried out.

Vital maintenance between Dorchester West and Castle Cary (1)
Previous vital maintenance between Dorchester West and Castle Cary. // Credit: Network Rail

Oliver Frost, Network Rail project director, said: “We’re looking forward to continuing our programme of work to improve the reliability of the Heart of Wessex line next month.

“This is an important stretch of railway and over the last three years, we’ve invested a significant amount to bring smoother and more reliable journeys for our customers travelling between and Dorset.

“We’re always finding ways to be more cost-effective and reduce the level of disruption to train services during our upgrade work. These slightly longer line closures enable us to carry out a wider range of work simultaneously which prevents the need for regular, smaller closures of the railway which would be more disruptive to customers.

“I’d like to thank customers and nearby residents in advance for their patience and understanding while we complete this work.

23 NOV 2021 Planned engineering work in the Dorchester area may affect your rail journey Train services between Somerset and Dorset will be affected by rail improvements planned to take place during November and December. Network Rail will be renewing tracks on the Heart of Wessex line affecting Great Western Railway services for Weymouth from Thursday 18 November to Friday 3 December. In addition, there will also be essential maintenance taking place affecting South Western Railway trains for Weymouth from Monday 22 to Friday 26 November. Here is a summary of the changes to our services: Thursday 18 November to Friday 3 December Buses replace GWR trains between Yeovil Pen Mill and Weymouth every two hours – one stopping at Dorchester West only, and one stopping at all stations. GWR Station Manager for Westbury, Wiltshire and Dorset James Wilcox said: “We will continue to keep people moving, but I would encourage those who travel to check beforehand as departure times may be different to normal and journey times extended. “This work is important to ensure we can continue to provide services between Somerset and Dorset that people can rely on and we thank customers for their patience during this time. “We are also grateful that Network Rail agreed to move this planned engineering work from earlier in the year to a quieter period to help minimise any disruption to passengers.” Network Rail's Wessex route director Mark Killick said: “We're making major improvements to the railway to provide passengers with better, more reliable journeys. “Sixteen days is a long time to close the railway, but it is the best way to ensure all of our work between Weymouth and Yeovil Pen Mill is completed during one closure, rather than across multiple weekends, while causing the least amount of disruption possible. “Within those sixteen days, we're also closing the line from Weymouth to Dorchester South for five days when we'll be carrying out important work to keep trains on time and reduce delays. “We recommend that passengers should plan ahead and check the latest journey information as some replacement bus journeys may take significantly longer.” This planned engineering work will help to protect a key route for customers travelling between Weymouth and Bristol Temple Meads or London Waterloo for years to come. For the latest information, visit our website at GWR.com/Wessex. Notes to editors First Greater Western Limited, trading as “Great Western Railway” (GWR), operates trains across the Great Western franchise area, which includes South Wales, the West Country, the Cotswolds, across southern England and into London. GWR provides high speed, commuter, regional and branch line train services, and before the covid-19 pandemic helped over 100 million passengers reach their destinations every year. GWR was recently awarded an extension to its direct award franchise (called DA3), which shall run up to 31 March 2023, with an option to extend for a further year. Find out more here: https://www.gwr.com/about-us GWR's enhanced cleaning regime includes: A 24% increase in cleaning hours every week since March 2020 Sanitising (fogging) of 1,120 vehicles every 4 weeks Carrying out 2,150 on board surface tests (ATP) every four weeks, to ensure the effectiveness of our cleaning 272 train cleaning processes reviewed, and many adapted Hand sanitising facilities at key stations across its network. Contact Information James Davis Media Relations Manager Great Western Railway 0845 410 4444 07703 890 711 james.davis@GWR.com Dorchester West Dorchester West
Dorchester West station. // Credit: Great Western Railway

Jordan Welsby, Great Western Railway’s station manager for the , Wiltshire and Dorset area, said: “This forms part of an ongoing programme of improvements that will enable us to maintain services for our customers travelling between Somerset and Dorset for years to come.

“We will provide alternative road transport between Yeovil Pen Mill, Dorchester West and Weymouth from Monday 16 to Friday 20 October.

“In addition, we have also agreed ticket acceptance on South Western Railway (SWR) services to ensure customers can still complete their journeys during this time.”

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  1. Improvements to railway lines to increase reliability are always welcome, but Network Rail seems now to be in the habit of closing complete lines for extended periods to do this.
    I don’t recall such extended closures in the past – often a single track was worked on while the adjacent track continued to run trains. The work teams had a lookout to warn the workforce of approaching trains.
    I guess Health & Safety measures have now outlawed this practice as unacceptably unsafe, but the continual bus substition now being required must surely get a lot of people out of the habit of using trains.

    1. The problem of track renewal is made more difficult where the route is single track. The line from Castle Cary to Dorchester was originally double track, but was singled, leaving passing loops at Yeovil Pen Mill, Maiden Newton and Dorchester West.

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