RAIL passengers travelling along the coastal route in South Devon will benefit from improvements to trains.

CrossCountry’s Voyager trains have been upgraded to protect them from severe weather conditions, particularly through Dawlish where the line is adjacent to the sea.

The company’s trains have been vulnerable to the weather conditions along the coastal route for many years due to the trains’ electrical systems.

When high waves came over the sea wall at Dawlish, the Voyager services had to be stopped from running between Exeter and Newton Abbot as their onboard systems could fail. 

Now a series of extensive modifications have been successfully tested on the Voyagers so the trains can now operate in the same conditions as other trains using the line.