Updated Timetable Changes on the West of England Line
Published: 27 August 2026
From: South Western Railway / Network Rail Wessex
We are
writing to provide an update on the temporary revised timetable on the West of
England between London Waterloo and Exeter St Davids.
Latest information
Since introducing the temporary timetable between Salisbury and Exeter St Davids on Monday 10 August we have seen the driest conditions ever recorded on the Southern Region of Britain’s railway network. As we outlined in our previous email, this weather has resulted in clay embankments supporting the railway between Salisbury and Exeter drying out, affecting the stability of the track.
To keep customers safe, trains have been running at reduced speeds between Tisbury in Wiltshire to Honiton in Devon, a 60-mile stretch of largely single-track railway which is particularly vulnerable to drought-like conditions.
We use a system provided by the UK Meteorological Office to provide a monthly estimate of Soil Moisture Deficit (SMD), which maps Britain into a grid of 40 x 40 km squares and tracks soil moisture levels in each.
Every square in the south of England has recorded record highs for SMD, and while temperatures are cooler and we have seen a small amount of rain, we are still in drought conditions and need a significant amount of rain to restore moisture levels to normal.
Moisture levels are significantly lower than last year when we operated a temporary timetable between August and November.
Bus services
To help students with their journeys to local schools and colleges we will provide bus services between Axminster, Feniton and Exeter starting on Tuesday 1 September, as follows:
| Service | Calling points |
| 0742 Feniton to Exeter St Davids | Whimple (0802), Cranbrook (0812), Pinhoe (0820), Exeter Central (0834), and Exeter St David's (0839) |
| 0836 Axminster to Exeter St Davids | Honiton (0856), Exeter Central (0940), and Exeter St David's (0945) |
| 1645 Exeter St Davids to Axminster | Exeter Central (1658), Honiton (1748), and Axminster (1808) |
| 1649 Exeter St Davids to Feniton | Exeter Central (1702), Pinhoe (1722), Cranbrook (1732), Whimple (1742), and Feniton (1757) |
Revised train times
To help customers travelling to Exeter we have re-timed the 0640 service from Salisbury to Exeter St Davids to arrive before 0900.
This service will now depart Salisbury at 0630, calling at Tisbury (0644), Gillingham (0658), Templecombe (0708), Sherborne (0717), Yeovil Junction (0724), Crewkerne (0737), Axminster (0757), Honiton (0812), Feniton (0818), Whimple (0824) Cranbrook (0829), Pinhoe (0833) Exeter Central (0843), and Exeter St Davids (0846).
The 0755 service from Exeter St Davids to London Waterloo will also be re-timed and will depart Exeter St Davids at the earlier time of 0739.
What happens next?
We are continuing to monitor soil moisture levels and will provide a further update in due course.
Please see below a link to our website with the latest information:
https://www.southwesternrailway.com/travelling-with-us/soil-moisture-deficit