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Monday 15 Dec 2025

Train services resume between Taunton and Castle Cary following drainage work

Region & Route:

Wales & Western: Western

Network Rail’s seven-day upgrade in the Somerton area is complete. On Monday 8 December engineers began work to replace a section of drainage under nearly 600 metres of the line. Work finished on time overnight, allowing train services to resume through the area this morning.

The upgrade work involved removing the old drainage system and replacing it with modern components; installing nearly 1,400 tonnes of fresh ballast (track stone) and 800 tonnes of shingle, as well as constructing 14 new inspection chambers that will make maintenance easier in future.

At any one time, up to 25 people were out on track for the replacement, using two engineering trains and four road rail vehicles to complete the installation and a tamping train to compact the new stone.

Throughout the work buses replaced trains between Taunton and Castle Cary stations. Additional track maintenance was also carried out at other locations along the line, including inspecting and testing vital signalling components, fine-tuning points and clearing vegetation around junctions and other track drainage systems.

Jason Pankhurst, Senior Programme Manager for Network Rail said:

“The work we have completed in the Somerton area over the past week is vital maintenance. Our new drainage system will take rain water away from the tracks much more efficiently, helping to reduce the risk of flooding in the future.

“We'd like to thank passengers and residents for their patience throughout this period. This kind of maintenance is essential to ensure the continued safe and reliable running of the railway.”

Jordan Welsby, the GWR Station Manager responsible for Castle Cary, said:

“We hope our customers were not too heavily inconvenienced during this important upgrade and were able to make use of the alternative travel arrangements we put in place.

“It’s really important that these kinds of improvements are made to ensure the continued reliability of an important part of the railway. I’d like to thank passengers for their patience.”

Passengers travelling through the area are reminded to check before they travel at nationalrail.co.uk or GWR.com/upgrade.

ENDS