Looe Branch Line - timetables, cancellations, engineering work, closures and incidents

[whole diary]

[grahame]

Due to flooding between Liskeard and Looe the line is closed.

Train services running to and from these stations have been suspended. Disruption is expected until the end of the day on 10/01/26.

What it does not tell us is what happens after 10th January ...

[ChrisB]

That will depend on the work assessments needed on the bridges damaged

[a-driver]

There’s a lot of work that needs to be undertaken, possibly two weeks worth if not more.

There’s also planned engineering work closing the line from Monday 23 February to Friday 6 March

[GBM]

Following yesterday's storm, I'm wondering if the branch will be closed for several more days now.

[grahame]

Following yesterday's storm, I'm wondering if the branch will be closed for several more days now.

Statements have always been in the negative - "Disruption is expected until the end of the day on 10/01/26" rather than "Services are expected to resume on 12/01/26" ... read carefully, I don't think any promise of when it will re-open has been given.    That's not an unreasonable stance, given that until the specialist divers took a look at least, the situation was unknown.

Does anyone here know / is there any public information as to the scale of the damage and the consequential timelines?

[grahame]

Does anyone here know / is there any public information as to the scale of the damage and the consequential timelines?

The GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) update on storm rocovery just received includes:

The Looe branch line also remains closed due to flooding. We will provide a separate update on the Looe branch once we have a greater understanding of when the line will reopen.

[Chris from Nailsea]

See member a-driver's post, just above here.

[TaplowGreen]

Alterations to services between Liskeard and Looe

Due to flooding between Liskeard and Looe the line is closed.

Train services running to and from these stations have been suspended. Disruption is expected until the end of the day on 16/01/26.

[grahame]

Alterations to services between Liskeard and Looe

Due to flooding between Liskeard and Looe the line is closed.

Train services running to and from these stations have been suspended. Disruption is expected until the end of the day on 16/01/26.

In more detail:

What has happened?
-
Heavy rainfall during December combined with high tides resulted in the water levels at several bridges along the branch line being above the level which allows us to safely run trains. This had caused some damage to structures along the line which will require repairs.
-
What are we doing about it?
-
The water levels dropped allowing Network Rail to inspect the bridges, and it has been found that repairs to the infrastructure are required before we are able to run trains again.
-
Storm Goretti brought strong winds and rain to the area overnight Thursday into Friday which has caused the water levels to rise again, which is now delaying the start of the repair work.
-
Once the water levels drop again, repair work will be able to begin, and we should then be able to give a more accurate date for the line reopening. Currently we do not expect to run trains until Saturday 17 January at the earliest.

We can question various aspects here ... and I note the words "at the earliest" which I take as being optimistic.  But at least there's a view a week ahead so that passengers can plan, and a better descipriton / text than might have been seen in the past.  And of course this (our) Internet ability to spread news means that all over the world means that in 2026 we are far more aware of a problem out of our own immediate home area than we would have been in 1926.

[a-driver]

Looe branch now confirmed as being closed until the 23 January.

[Chris from Nailsea]

Thank you for your update post here, a-driver.

[GBM]

Looe branch now confirmed as being closed until the 23 January.

Alterations to services between Liskeard and Looe
Due to flooding between Liskeard and Looe the line is closed.
Train services running to and from these stations have been suspended. Disruption is expected until the end of the day on 23/01/26.
Customer Advice
-
What has happened?
-
Heavy rainfall during December combined with high tides resulted in the water levels at several bridges along the branch line being above the level which allows us to safely run trains. This had caused some damage to structures along the line which will require repairs.
-
What are we doing about it?
-
The water levels dropped allowing Network Rail to inspect the bridges, and it has been found that repairs to the infrastructure are required before we are able to run trains again.
-
Storm Goretti brought strong winds and rain to the area overnight Thursday into Friday which has caused the water levels to rise again, which is now delaying the start of the repair work.
-
Once the water levels drop again, repair work will be able to begin, and we should then be able to give a more accurate date for the line reopening. Currently we do not expect to run trains until Friday 23rd January at the earliest.