MPs warn crumbling cliffs pose fresh threat to Devon and Cornwall rail line
A Westminster debate heard the cliffs are now a bigger danger than the sea
Crumbling cliffs and disappearing dunes pose a fresh threat to rail services in and out of Devon and Cornwall, local MPs have warned.
The warnings came in a Westminster debate about the only railway line serving the two counties.
Torbay's Liberal Democrat MP Steve Darling told the debate: "The cliffs are the enemy now, rather than the sea."
Jayne Kirkham, the Labour MP for Truro and Falmouth, told fellow MPs: "There is a very real risk that a cliff could fall on a train."
She said people in the West Country were expected to put up with disruption that would not be tolerated elsewhere.
Dawlish and the resilience work
The railway line was breached by a ferocious storm in February 2014.
Rails were left dangling in mid air after the sea wall at Dawlish was smashed to pieces.
Since then, Network Rail has spent £165 million on a resilience programme.
It has included a new sea wall, a redesigned station at Dawlish and work to stop crumbling sandstone cliffs falling onto the railway line below.
The fifth and final phase of the work would protect the line between Parson's Tunnel and Teignmouth. It has been put on hold indefinitely because it is judged to be too expensive.
Climate and dunes
Mr Darling said climate change was the real enemy, in the form of extreme heat or storms.
He warned that the line at Powderham is now under threat because of the Environment Agency's managed retreat from Dawlish Warren. He said the dunes there could break up and leave the line vulnerable.
He said hot summers also meant less moisture in the soil, leading to slow travel on buckling rails as the ground shifts.
Mr Darling also claimed trains in the West Country were often poor quality and passed down from elsewhere in the country.
Delays for passengers
Richard Foord, the Liberal Democrat MP for Honiton and Sidmouth, said students travelling to and from Exeter were facing long delays and cancelled trains.
He said summer services often had no air conditioning.
Mr Foord said: "Passengers deserve railways that withstand the climate conditions that we are set to face. Too much of our infrastructure, particularly in the West Country, still relies on Victorian earthworks and drainage systems and assets that were not designed for today's climate.
"How will the government accelerate investment in climate resilience so that we can get ahead of the changes we know are coming down the track and make sure that our students, workers and most vulnerable members of society get the transport links they deserve?"
South Devon Liberal Democrat MP Caroline Voaden missed the start of the debate because her train was late.
She said people travelling to and from the West Country faced at least two years of delays because of works for the HS2 project at Old Oak Common near Paddington.
Government response
Department of Transport under-secretary Simon Lightwood, the Labour MP for Wakefield and Rothwell, said all efforts were being made. He said a great deal of funding had gone into making the track through Dawlish and Teignmouth as resilient as possible.
He said: "I do not think that anybody wants to suspend services through that area. But unfortunately there will be instances where that may have to be done.
"The investment that has been put in has made it more resilient. We saw that during the latest storms, when the line was reopened the day after its closure.
"The new seawall performed as designed, helping to protect the infrastructure from major damage."
Mr Lightwood said investigative work was still continuing on the unfinished final phase of the resilience project. This includes a drainage trial to remove water from the cliffs.