Heart of Wessex line upgrades
We continue to make major improvements on the Heart of Wessex line from Castle Cary to Weymouth
Upcoming seven-day closure in September
Our engineers will be working on the line from Monday 23 September to Sunday 29 September.
During the closure, buses will replace Great Western Railway services between Castle Cary and Weymouth.
What work is taking place?
Our planned works include re-railing just under a mile of track between Thornford and Yeovil Pen Mill.
Why is the work needed?
The existing track is over 50 years old and prone to faults that can cause disruption and delays to services and passengers. The brand-new track will make for smoother, more comfortable and reliable journeys.
Completing this work in a week-long block minimises disruption and avoids us having to close this part of the railway over numerous different dates.
Benefits
Our work over the last four years has been a serious investment to improve the reliability of the Heart of Wessex line.
Since February 2020, we’ve been renewing key stretches of track, replacing bridges and carrying out essential maintenance at our stations.
Our Projects
This ongoing improvement project started in February 2020 when we replaced a bridge at Yetminster, then in March 2021, we carried out essential maintenance at Yeovil Pen Mill station.
In November and December 2021, we replaced four miles of track between Maiden Newton and Yetminster, improved Weymouth and Upwey stations and carried out bridge and track maintenance.
In September 2022 a week-long closure from Weymouth to Yeovil Pen Mill saw our engineers replace 1950s track in the Yetminster area, overhaul the Yeovil Pen Mill signal box and resurface the platform at Yetminster station.
In February and March 2023 our teams successfully completed two back-to-back 5-day weekday closures between Castle Cary/Yeovil Pen Mill and Weymouth.
Our engineers took advantage of this extended line closure to complete multiple improvement works along the line. During 240 site hours, we:
- Renewed over 2,000 yards of railway through Thornford station, replacing track and old timber sleepers with new concrete ones.
- Refurbished Maiden Newton station, repairing the canopies, giving the station a clean and a fresh lick of paint.
- Installed new tactile pavings at Yeovil Pen Mill station to keep all our passengers safe
- Cleared overgrown vegetation and maintained key bits of railway infrastructure.
From Monday 16 to Friday 20 October 2023 our teams worked round the clock to replace 758 metres of 1950s track between Maiden Newton and Chetnole, bringing yet another part of this line up to modern standards.
Contact us
For more information or to get in touch with us, please contact us by visiting our contact us page or by calling our 24-hour national helpline on 03457 11 41 41. Information can also be found on our twitter page @NetworkRailWssx