FOLLOWING two months of fewer trains – and reduced speeds – services on the West of England line have returned to normal between Salisbury and Exeter St David’s.

Speed restrictions of 40mph had been in place near Tisbury, Gillingham and Axminster, as the clay-based track bed shrank in the record-breaking hot and dry summer, leaving the rails uneven and too bumpy for trains to run at full speed.

Diligent work by engineers has restored track levels, helped by cooler temperatures and regular rain, which has stopped the track bed shrinking, allowing the speed restrictions have now been lifted.

Network Rail has kindly contributed some of the funding for some special offer for customers.

E-bikes are currently available to hire at Cranbrook, Pinhoe, Exeter Central and Exeter St David’s stations as well as Exeter St Thomas.

To claim the free taster minutes, customers should head to the Co-bikes website at: http://www.co-bikes.co.uk/swt-welcome-back/, or they can scan the QR code in the leaflet. The offer ends on Wednesday, November 30.

Claire Mann, Managing Director, South Western Railway said:

“We’re delighted to bring back a full timetable to the West of England, providing the quality services that our customers deserve.

“I am sorry to all those customers whose journeys were affected as we waited for weather conditions to improve to enable Network Rail to safely remove the speed restrictions.

“As a token of our appreciation for our customers’ patience over the past couple of months, we are pleased to provide these free welcome back offers, and we hope that customers will use them to try out the great food and drink and e-bikes in the area.”

In a separate project, SWR customers who use the West of England line are reminded that engineers will return to the area to renew track and improve reliability between Saturday, December 10 and Sunday, December 18.

During this nine-day period, rail replacement buses will serve Tisbury, Gillingham (Dorset), Templecombe and Sherborne.

Customers are advised to check train times carefully as they may be different to normal and may require a change of trains.