Work on the new Dawlish sea wall will start at the end of May, following years of detailed studies, designs and collaborations between marine, coastal and railway engineering experts. The work is expected to take around nine months to complete, with work stopping during the peak summer season to minimise disruption to tourism.
First step
This is the first step towards increasing the resilience of this section of the London - Penzance main line to damage from storms and rising sea levels.
The main line was closed for two months in 2014 after extreme weather washed away a section of seawall and trackbed at Dawlish, while a massive landslide blocked the line with 20,000 tonnes of material.
