10 years strong: Dawlish celebrates its recovery from coastal chaos

It’s been a decade since Dawlish was battered by a storm so devastating that it would leave its mark on the south coast for years to come. 

On the night of February 4, 2014, a storm ravaged the westcountry, tearing down over 70 trees and leaving tens of thousands across the southwest without power. Devon and Cornwall Police recorded their second busiest night on record, receiving over 1,400 calls in 24 hours. 

Worse still, the high winds and extremely rough seas destroyed roughly 130ft of Dawlish’s seawall and washed away a huge part of the railway behind it, leaving the westcountry isolated. Councillors described how the train tracks were left “hanging by a thread”.

Further storms continued to cause damage in the following days, and it took time for the engineers to assess the true extent of the damage. The Department of Transport concluded that the “most pressing issue” was to get the only railway connection to the westcountry up and running again as soon as possible, but also concluded that “equally it is clear it is important we look at the long term as well".

With the line being besieged by storms since it was first built over a century ago, it was obvious that a larger project was needed to protect the line from future storms. 

Repairs were finally completed at the start of April 2014, with the first train (the 05:34 Exeter St Davids to Paignton) running on schedule on the morning of Friday 4 April. But this initial work was just the beginning.

Subsequently, a £165 million resilience package developed by Network Rail and financed by the Department for Transport sought to safeguard the renowned railway section from escalating sea levels and severe weather conditions.

In 2019, the South West Rail Resilience Programme began, tasked with looking at how the line between Dawlish and Teignmouth could be better protected. Since then, it has: 

• Built a stronger, taller sea wall for Dawlish, stretching for 800m between Boat Cove and Coastguard’s breakwater, with a new high-level promenade, link bridge and curved design to deflect waves back to the sea.

• Constructed a new footbridge with lifts at Dawlish station, meaning that for the first time in its history, it is fully accessible.

• Installed a 109m rockfall shelter at the northern end of Parson’s Tunnel, built from 185 pre-cast concrete units, coloured red to match the local sandstone, to protect the railway from the cliffs above.

Work has also started to install 19,700 square metres of netting to secure the cliffs and a further £5 million has been allocated to develop the railway between Parson’s Tunnel to Teignmouth.

Speaking on the 10th anniversary of the storms which swept away the line, Peninsula Transport chairman Councillor Andrea Davis said efforts to repair and strengthen the critical stretch of track show what partnership working can achieve. 

Councillor Davis said: “The destruction inflicted at Dawlish was a massive setback for the South West in 2014.  But the commitment shown by local authorities, the rail industry, business organisations and others to work together to make the line more resilient was unique, and it has put us in a far better position ten years on.

“There remains more to do, but we must pay tribute to all those who have come together and worked hard to make the rail network less vulnerable to extreme weather.” 

Rail Minister Huw Merriman said: “A decade ago, the Dawlish storm battered south Devon, devasting its coastline and severing the southwest from the rest of the country for eight weeks.

“Thanks to more than £165 million of Government funding to restore and protect this vital stretch of railway, its future is now secured. This will provide residents with peace of mind the line is better protected, no matter the weather.”

Anne Marie Morris, MP for Newton Abbot, added: “Ten years since the storm that brought down the sea wall at Dawlish, and we have been on an incredible journey since then!

“The South West Rail Resilience Programme is an incredible feat of engineering. Thank you to Network Rail, our very patient community and the many other unsung supporters of this vital project. We now just have the final phase to complete, which will be the most challenging part of the resilience programme – addressing the challenges of the cliffs at Teignmouth.

“The Government has committed to deliver this fifth and final phase to ensure that the peninsula's most important line is truly resilient. I will be working with Network Rail to ensure that the Government keeps good on the commitment made ten years ago.”