Axminster and Exeter train line closed until this Friday

To mark the half-way milestone of two-weeks’ worth of “complex” rail replacement works I was invited to meet the hard-working Network Rail team behind the scenes at Honiton tunnel - where most of the works are taking place.

It was really exciting, surreal and a little bit scary to be stood on an empty train track and walking through the Honiton tunnel on foot whilst surrounded by working RRV machines.

The inside of Honiton Tunnel without running trains. (Image: Molly Kirk) “Its going well, everyone is working really hard,” Charlotte Tyler, project manager told me proudly. “It is the most complex plain line job that I have ever done.”

Charlotte Tyler, Network Rail Project Manager stood on the Axminster to Exeter line.  (Image: Molly Kirk) During this two-week period, Network Rail engineers are installing a mile of new track through Honiton Tunnel, replacing the existing 50-year-old infrastructure.

This upgrade includes the installation of 2300 new sleepers and 4000 tonnes of ballast, ensuring a smoother and more reliable journey for passengers.

Whilst on scene, I had unique the opportunity to see the original track and the process of how the team replace the sleepers with new concrete ones.

Network Rail engineers placing the new concrete sleepers on the track inside the Honiton tunnel. (Image: Molly Kirk) The team are also working on cutting back vegetation growth that is encroaching on the path of trains and removing diseased trees, improving track drainage, finishing off the stabilisation of the recent land slip and general maintenance.

Land slip repairs and prevention wall outside Honiton tunnel. (Image: Molly Kirk)Although two weeks seems like an excessive amount of time for such an important trainline to be closed I was informed that if it were to take place on weekends instead it would have been 20 weekends worth of disruption due to the level of degradation of the fifty-year-old tracks.

The old seriously degraded 50-year-old tracks (Image: Molly Kirk) “The works are very necessary for safer journeys and less works taking place in future”, Charlotte added.

The new rail has been designed to millimetre precision by a “diverse team of experts, machine drivers and train drivers,” and will be coated with a protective layer to resist corrosion to extend its lifespan.

However, not everything has been smooth running, although we are over half-way through the railway works being undertaken, I was told by the team that they have been “facing delays and difficulties due to it being a bidirectional track and due to leakage.”

These delays are due to the nature of the works in terms of getting everything out of the tunnels, Honiton hill being full of natural springs so there have been lots of issues with water and flooding and due to “numerous machine breakdowns and failures too”.

Despite these technical difficulties, the team are still confident that the track will open on the day expected.

However, I was also told that the car park at Honiton station behind Platform two will be delayed in reopening as an extension was needed to get everything offsite safely.

The car park at the front of the station will reopen on Saturday, November 23.

 A spokesperson for Network Rail said: “We are sorry for any inconvenience caused and thank customers for their patience.”