Reduced rail service continues due to dry weather

A rail operator has confirmed its reduced timetable will remain in place because of the dry weather.

South Western Railway (SWR) and Network Rail Wessex said the service between Exeter St Davids and London Waterloo would remain two-hourly and speed restrictions would continue until there was "significant rainfall".

The Salisbury to Exeter Rail User Group (SERUG) has described the early morning timetable as "unacceptable" for commuters in east Devon.

Last year, the reduced timetable stayed in place until November 29 but SWR and NR Wessex's managing director Lawrence Bowman said the timetable would be restored "as soon as possible".

SERUG secretary Nick Hurrell said while the new timetable showed improvements on last years' revisions, it was not serving passengers.

He said: "The worst thing about this end of the line [between Yeovil Junction and Exeter St Davids] is that it's a two-hourly service even in the morning when people and school children want to commute.

"There's over one million people per year who use the line between Axminster, Honiton and Exeter and most of those are travelling west rather than east and to have a two-hourly service simply isn't acceptable."

Bowman said "soil moisture deficit" had occurred due to the hot weather but he did understand passengers' frustration and recognised "how important the railway is to the people of the South West".

He said engineers had removed hundreds of trees at 17 sites along the track and had laid 5,000 tonnes of ballast to help maintain the track integrity.

Bowman said: "We are going to be working day and night to try and get the stability of the tracks back.

"We haven't yet seen if significant rainfall will come through September and the autumn, but rest assured, we'll be doing everything possible to get the full service back as soon as we possibly can".

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