Rail disruption continues after Honiton landslip

The landslide near Honiton has closed the railway line

Rail cancellations caused by a landslip and floods are continuing throughout Tuesday.

The line in Devon between Axminster and Exeter St Davids was closed on Monday due to debris covering the tracks at Honiton.

Network Rail reopened the line at 14:00 after teams cleared the debris away on Tuesday amid continuing delays and cancellations.

It meant services were only running between London Waterloo and Axminster.

A Network Rail spokeswoman apologised to passengers.

A South Western Railway (SWR) spokesman said delays were likely to continue throughout the day due to an "emergency speed limit" through the affected section.

The landslide near Honiton has closed the line

SWR said that, "due to difficulties in sourcing replacement transport", customers were "authorised to book their own taxi between Axminster and Exeter" and claim back the expense.

It said tickets would be accepted on alternative routes, including:

• GWR between London Paddington and Exeter St Davids

• GWR between Reading and Basingstoke

• GWR between Salisbury and Westbury

A Network Rail spokeswoman said engineers were "in the process of removing the material that is blocking the line" and hoped to complete work by "late afternoon".

She added: "We apologise to customers for the disruption and will continue to provide updates as soon as possible."

The landslide near Honiton has closed the line

On Monday, Mark Killick, from Network Rail, said the landslip underscored the need for recent stabilisation works.

"We're delivering a scheme to stabilise the embankment but that work is ongoing," he said.

"We've been carrying out work right along the line to prevent this sort of thing, but there is still work to be done."