Taunton to Exeter
Communities served: Taunton – Tiverton and Willand – Exeter
The line leaves Taunton and passes the engineer's depot at Fairwater Yard on the same side. The former Norton Fitzwarren railway station is the location of two serious collisions and a fatal train fire. The West Somerset Railway diverges on the right and work is under way to provide new facilities here for this heritage railway which includes relaying track for a short distance along the old Devon and Somerset Railway that formed a third route in between the main line and the West Somerset. On the left of the line an embankment marks the remains of the Grand Western Canal.
After passing over Victory Crossing at Bradford-on-Tone, the line starts to climb upwards. It passes through the remains of Wellington station and then under the A38 road at Beambridge, which was the site of the line's terminus while work was underway to excavate the Whiteball Tunnel at the top of Wellington Bank.[11] It was coming down here that City of Truro became the first locomotive to exceed 100 miles per hour (160 km/h).[12]
Through the tunnel and into Devon, the M5 motorway comes alongside on the left and the line arrives at Tiverton Parkway, the railhead for much of north Devon via the A361 road that joins the motorway next to the station. A short distance further is Tiverton Loops, the site of the former Tiverton Junction railway station.
The motorway service station on the left marks the site of Cullompton railway station, and then the line passes the remains of Hele and Bradninch and Silverton stations. At Stoke Canon the old Exe Valley Railway used to join from the right, and then the railway sweeps through the valley of the River Culm to where it joins the River Exe near Cowley Bridge Junction. Here the Tarka Line from Barnstaple joins on the right and the line then passes (on the same side) Riverside Yard and an old transhipment shed. Until 20 May 1892, when the then GWR lines were converted from the 7 ft (2,134 mm) broad gauge, the shed was used to transfer goods between broad gauge wagons and the 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge wagons used by the London and South Western Railway to Yeovil and Barnstaple.[13] Passing over the wide Red Cow level crossing, the line comes to Exeter St Davids railway station.
| Parts of this article (those related to Weston-super-Mare branch line) need to be updated. (April 2011) |
The route has a line speed limit of 100 miles per hour (160 km/h) with local variations, the main one being the 110 mph from approx. Bleadon (138-44) to Huntspill (147-00); trains from Bristol to Taunton are described as travelling in the 'down' direction. It is constructed to Route Availability 8 and freight loading gauge W8. It has Multiple Aspect Signals (MAS) and Track Circuit Block (TCB) controlled from the panel signal box at Bristol. A local signal box at Puxton and Worle controls the two level crossings at Hewish and Puxton, and an emergency panel at Weston-super-Mare can take control of the section from Hewish to Uphill Junction if required.
The 21st Century modernisation of the Great Western Main Line has included electrification of the main line from London to Bristol Parkway however this is not planned to be extended onto the Bristol to Exeter line.[18] Trains are now a hybrid of diesel and electric power (Bimodes) which can run on non electrified routes south of Bristol.
The Weston-super-Mare/Yate corridor is one of the main axes of the proposed Greater Bristol Metro, which aims to enhance transport capacity in the Bristol area.[19][20]
There have also been calls for a dedicated railway line to Bristol Airport, branching off from the main line somewhere near Flax Bourton.[21]