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Monday 9 Mar 2026

Plymouth to Totnes trains restored after River Plym upgrade

Region & Route:

Wales & Western: Western

| Wales & Western

Trains are running again between Plymouth and Totnes this morning after Network Rail completed an extensive upgrade of River Plym bridge.

The upgrade helps keep the railway running safely and smoothly and saw 16 days of continuous, round the clock work to strengthen the bridge, near the A38 Devon Expressway in Plymouth.

Over 16,000 working hours saw 134 new steel rail bearers installed and the steelwork on the bridge deck and girders refurbished. The timbers along the length of the bridge were replaced with 24 new FFU timbers. A synthetic wood, FFU is lighter, requires far less maintenance and lasts six times as long as traditional timber.

180 metres of new rail was also laid across the bridge, in the first significant upgrade in decades. Built in 1868, the bridge now carries faster, heavier and more frequent trains than ever before.

With the railway temporarily closed, other work was completed in the area:

• 400 metres of rail replaced near Newton Abbot
• Final section of the Plymouth-bound platform resurfaced at Totnes station
• Track crossings upgraded near Ivybridge, Newton Abbot and Plympton
• Track and drainage maintenance
• Cleared overgrown vegetation
• Surveys completed for future signal upgrade

Dan Parkes, Network Rail principal portfolio manager, said: “This has been an intense period of work and we’ve got an awful lot done to help keep the railway running safely long into the future.

“We’re very grateful to passengers for their patience and understanding while the railway has been temporarily closed. We thank our supply chain partners for delivering such a complex programme of work and our partners for their efforts in keeping people moving.”

Sharon Holloway, GWR station manager for Plymouth and East Cornwall said: “We are really pleased that, working with our partners, we have been able to deliver these improvements, which will keep passengers safely moving in and out of Devon and Cornwall for years to come, better supporting the local and national economy.

“We recognise only too well how frustrating it can be when improvement works interrupt passengers’ journeys and we are grateful for the understanding shown while this work took place.”