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Saturday 22 Nov 2025

COMPLETED: Trains running between Poole and Dorchester South again after engineers finish essential upgrades

Region & Route:

Southern: Wessex

South Western Railway services resumed this morning (22 November) between Poole and Dorchester South after Network Rail engineers carried out vital maintenance and upgrades to the railway.

During the week-long closure, engineers re-enforced a stretch of railway embankment in Hamworthy, and improved drainage at the Poole sidings to reduce the risk of flooding on the railway and improving long-term reliability.

Engineers renewed the wheel timbers—the long blocks that support the tracks—on the River Frome bridge near Wool. These were replaced with modern Fibre-reinforced Foamed Urethane (FFU) alternatives, extending the life of the structure, while also giving passengers a smoother ride over the bridge.

Engineers also completed footbridge improvements at Wool station, making for a better experience for passengers using the station.

To make sure these works were as sustainable as possible, we’re made the following adjustments:

• At Wool, the crane we used to lift the footbridge out uses Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil as fuel
• For our wheel timber renewal on the River Frome, we used artificial wheel timbers, which reduces the need for tree-felling to provide materials
• To avoid pollution to the waterway, we carried out all adjustments to the wheel timbers (cutting and re-shaping) away from the river, avoiding contamination
• For our re-railing work through Morton, 45 tons of old rail and 6 tons of fastenings will be recycled instead of going to a scrap yard
• At all of our site compounds we used solar panels to help increase our use of renewal energy where possible

Speaking on behalf of Network Rail and South Western Railway, George Murrell, Wessex Renewals Director, said: “I’d like to thank passengers and the local community for their patience while we carried out these essential upgrade works. The railway passes through a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) so we took all the precautions to ensure that the local wildlife was not impacted as well. This work will improve the resilience of the railway through Dorset and passengers will benefit from smoother and more reliable journeys.”

Further information about the works being carried out can be found here: Bournemouth to Dorchester Line Renewals - Network Rail

B-Roll can be downloaded below