Upcoming engineering work, Monday 10 to Sunday 16 March between Yeovil Pen Mill and Castle Cary stations
I am writing to let you know that Network Rail engineers will be carrying out vital railway improvement works on the Heart of Wessex Line.
The 7-day closure will allow our team of engineers to replace 850 tonnes of ballast, the stone supporting a 250-metre stretch of track. This work is crucial to prevent the track bed from becoming flooded, which can lead to failures and rough rides.
Changes to train services:
- From Monday 10 to Friday 14 March, buses replace trains between Castle Cary and Yeovil Pen Mill. This will increase journey times by approximately half an hour.
- From Saturday 15 to Sunday 16 March, buses replace trains between Castle Cary and Weymouth. This will increase journey times by approximately 75 minutes. Passengers may also travel via Southampton on SWR services to avoid the use of buses.
During this time, engineers will take advantage of the line being closed to complete a range of other important work, including:
- Carrying out repairs to the semaphore signals (one of the earliest forms of fixed railway signals) at Yeovil Pen Mill station to reduce the risk of failures
- Cutting down and removing dead, diseased and dangerous trees in the Yeovil area to reduce the risk of trees blocking the line and leaf fall onto the railway so we can keep trains running safely and on time.
- Track maintenance in the Maiden Newton area to ensure smooth and reliable journeys, including tamping – where engineers use a tamping machine to lift the track slightly and pack new ballast under the sleepers, before it realigns the track using laser measurement.
We have set up a dedicated webpage here which will be regularly updated as the work progresses.
Online journey planners have been updated to include the replacements buses, and customers have also been made aware through at station posters, on board and station announcements, and traditional and social media.