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Engineers have been working through the night at Dawlish, Devon, to shore up a seriously damaged section of sea wall before another Atlantic storm system arrives on Saturday.

A second month of severe storms and the wettest January on record tested the rail industry’s resilience during a difficult period 11.

Network Rail engineers are today starting work to try and prevent any further damage to the railway at Dawlish in Devon as another Atlantic storm system is forecast to hit the south-west of England on Saturday.

Four suppliers have been appointed by Network Rail to deliver a £2bn programme to electrify more than two thousand miles of Britain’s railway over the next seven years, providing faster, quieter, greener and more reliable journeys for passengers and freight users and cutting the cost of the railway.

Network Rail is on the hunt for more than 220 apprentices to join its ranks and help deliver a multi-billion pound programme of work to renew and maintain one of the most intensely used networks in Europe while boosting capacity and improving performance.

The closure of a level crossing on the East Coast Main Line in Cambridgeshire means Network Rail has now reached its target, set in 2010, of closing 10% of Britain’s crossings – 750 in total – by April 2014, contributing to a reduction in the overall risk level crossings pose to the network by 25%.

A succession of tumultuous storms tested the rail industry’s resilience during a very difficult period 10.