SWR to reduce services between Waterloo and Exeter St Davids

The changes, effective from Monday, August 11, are due to a condition known as soil moisture deficit.

Customers travelling between London Waterloo and Exeter St Davids, which calls at Andover, will see a significant reduction in services, with only one train every two hours instead of the usual hourly service.

These services will also run one hour longer than usual.

Services on the London Waterloo to St Davids Exeter line will be affected (Image: Wikimedia)

Train services between London Waterloo and Yeovil Junction will also be affected, taking 25 minutes longer than usual.

The new timetable will, however, restore train services to Crewkerne, which has been served by buses since Monday, July 28.

Crewkerne will be served once every two hours by trains between London Waterloo and Exeter St Davids.

The temporary timetable changes are to provide customers with a reliable service while trains adhere to speed restrictions.

The speed restrictions are a result of soil moisture deficit, a condition caused by extremely dry weather conditions.

The Met Office reported that spring of 2025 was the UK's warmest and sunniest since 1910, with the least amount of rain since 1976.

These dry conditions have removed moisture from clay soil embankments between Gillingham in Dorset and Axminster in Devon, causing them to shrink.

The track that sits above these embankments has been disturbed, so speed restrictions are being imposed for the safety of passing trains.

Instead of travelling at a maximum of 85mph, trains will now be forced to travel at 40mph.

Stuart Meek, South Western Railway’s chief operating officer, said: "We are very sorry for the disruption that customers will experience due to this change, as we know just how important the West of England line is to the communities it serves.

"We have not taken this decision lightly and we recognise the impact that it will have on customers west of Yeovil in particular.

"However, to continue operating a safe and reliable service, we have no alternative but to introduce a reduced timetable."

Tom Desmond, operations director for Network Rail, added: "The safety of our customers is our number one priority, which is why we must impose these speed restrictions between Gillingham and Axminster.

South Western Railway has apologised for the disruption (Image: NQ)

"We want to give customers the longest notice possible of timetable changes, and following a comprehensive analysis of ground and track conditions, we know that we must make changes in the next two weeks."

Dry conditions are set to continue, so further speed restrictions may be required.

Attempting to stabilise the track now would only provide a short-lived fix, as the soil continues to move.

Once soil moisture levels improve and the ground begins to rehydrate and settle, engineers will carry out lasting repairs to stabilise the embankments and restore track levels, allowing the normal timetable to return.