Plymouth: River Plym railway bridge work - 21 Feb to 9 Mar 2026

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Buses replacing trains during Plymouth bridge work

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Network Rail said work was needed to strengthen the 50m-long bridge to make sure it remained safe

Rail passengers have been warned of disruption to services while work is carried out to repair part of a railway line in Plymouth.

Network Rail said work had been under way at the River Plym section since last September, with it scheduled to continue until August, and the main work on 180m (590ft) of track now taking place between 21 Feb and 8 March.

It said buses would replace trains between Totnes and Plymouth on 21 and 22 February, and Monday 2 March until Sunday 8 March. From 23 February to 1 March, buses would replace trains between Exeter St Davids and Plymouth, it added.

Network Rail said work was needed to strengthen the 50m-long (164ft-long) bridge to make sure it remained safe, with track being be replaced over it and either side of the bridge, plus the bridge also being repainted. It said trains were now faster, heavier and more frequent, and, if no work was done, it increased the risk of a fault developing in the near future.

It said 134 steel rail bearers would be installed between existing bridge crossbeams, and new rail bearers made of FFU, a synthetic wood which lasts longer than traditional timber, would also be laid along the length of the bridge.

Network Rail added it would need access to the bridge from the river to complete the project and would be installing a temporary dam. Only half the river would be dammed at a time to ensure river flow was not interrupted and fish were not disturbed, project leaders said. Consent had been given by the Marine Management Organisation and Environment Agency for the work, they added.

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A temporary dam would be in place to give Network Rail access to the bridge from the river

Network Rail said it would be working on other parts of the railway while trains were not running. It said it would resurface the Plymouth-bound platform at Totnes station, complete track and drainage maintenance, carry out vegetation management, replace rail near Newton Abbot, replace a track crossing near Ivybridge and complete surveys as part of preliminary work to upgrade the signalling system in the area.

[a-driver]

Always a very telling sign of the state of the U.K. coach industry and how difficult it is to source coaches for any rail replacement work, there’s coaches operating between Plymouth and Tiverton that are based as far away as Walsall!!

[Chris from Nailsea]

Blimey!  It's nearly 3 hours by road from Walsall to Tiverton, and the same back: that doesn't leave much time for the coach driver to also go to Plymouth.

They must be staying overnight somewhere in Devon.

[grahame]

Always a very telling sign of the state of the U.K. coach industry and how difficult it is to source coaches for any rail replacement work, there’s coaches operating between Plymouth and Tiverton that are based as far away as Walsall!!

With the closure of their public bus operation in the far west, my social media feed has been stuffed with reports of First shipping / driving buses out of Cornwall to all sorts of other far flung places in Great Britain.

[GBM]

Blimey!  It's nearly 3 hours by road from Walsall to Tiverton, and the same back: that doesn't leave much time for the coach driver to also go to Plymouth.

They must be staying overnight somewhere in Devon.

Drivers and vehicles are usually employed for the duration of the rail replacement works, rather than just a day.
So a coach is brought down (or up from Cornwall) to where the operations centre is (probably Exeter, or Plymouth).
Drivers stay in a hotel there, and arrangements are in hand for vehicles to be cleaned and fuelled locally as well.
When the rail replacement ends, drivers and vehicles return to their respective depots.

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Work on rail bridge expected to finish on time

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The River Plym Railway Bridge in Plymouth is set to reopen on 9 March

Work to strengthen a railway bridge so it can carry heavier trains is on track to finish on time despite poor weather, Network Rail has said.

The line between Plymouth and Totnes has been shut since Saturday 21 February for work on the River Plym Railway Bridge. About 180m (591ft) of track is being replaced among other work at a cost of about £6.5m.

Dan Parkes, principal portfolio manager at Network Rail, said the work had been "challenging" in heavy rainfall but the bridge was expected to reopen on Monday morning.

The River Plym bridge, near the A38, is on the main line between London Paddington and Penzance.

Network Rail said 134 steel rail bearers installed between existing cross beams on the bridge and 24 new rail bearers made of synthetic wood were being laid as part of the work. They are designed to last six times longer than the traditional timber bearers they are replacing.

The rail boss said some of the steel work on the bridge had become rusty and corroded. "It needs a really, really good lot of repairs and maintenance to keep it good for the future," Parkes said.

Resurfacing work on the Plymouth-bound platform at Totnes and track and drain maintenance also formed part of the project.

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High water levels caused by poor weather has made the work difficult at times

With the agreement of the Marine Management Organisation and the Environment Agency, the river in Plymouth was partially dammed to help with work underneath the bridge. However, recent heavy rainfall has made things difficult.

"There was times coming in through the storms [when] the tide was rising above the parapet on the bridge, it was coming above the dam we installed," Danny Tyrie, site manager with contractor Morgan Sindall, said. "The height of the water was extremely high which obviously made it tougher to work in."

Work has been ongoing on the bridge for several months and will continue for several more when the line is back open.

Trains between Exeter and London, Cardiff and the north of England continue to operate as normal, as do services between Plymouth and Penzance, said Network Rail.

Sharon Holloway, Great Western Railway station manager for Plymouth, said: "Replacement buses will bridge the gaps, but journey times will be longer, and we urge passengers to check before they travel and allow extra time."

[LiskeardRich]

Always a very telling sign of the state of the U.K. coach industry and how difficult it is to source coaches for any rail replacement work, there’s coaches operating between Plymouth and Tiverton that are based as far away as Walsall!!

FTS put out their requirements on a portal. Any approved coach operator in the uk can sign up for a duty/ duties.

I’ve been working on this rail replacement for the last 2 weeks.
Other notable operators include
Stagecoach Devon from Plymouth Depot
Dartline/ go Southwest
Greenslades
Taw and Torridge
Zen of Walsall
Cymru coaches
Teulu Travel (Tonypandy)
Reading and Wokingham (R&W) coaches.
Xelacoach
Trafalgar coaches
Aldermaston coaches.
Probably others but I’ve interacted with drivers from the above companies throughout the fortnight .

Cymru and Teulu both have dedicated rail replacement coaches and drivers who just tour the country doing rail replacement.
As a driver I love rail replacement knowing I’ll get to meet a wide variety of drivers from around the country. There are so many entertaining stories to be heard.

FTS have coordinators at the stations from far flung exotic places such as Wolverhampton, Leeds and London as well as few local coordinators.