:00:00. > :00:30.The sight so many had been waiting for as trains returned to this line
:00:31. > :00:34.for the first time in two months. Good evening. It has taken thousands
:00:35. > :00:38.of tonnes of concrete and steel and hundreds of rail engineers to get
:00:39. > :00:49.this route open, much to thd relief of passengers. We went throtgh
:00:50. > :00:50.Dawlish and the bunting was out It was the great British bulldog
:00:51. > :00:54.spirit. Also in the programme this dvening.
:00:55. > :00:56.Back on track on the railwax. But in Cornwall, concerns that the
:00:57. > :01:00.multi`million pound storm rdpair bill is still outstanding. H'll be
:01:01. > :01:03.talking to a tourism chief to find out if the Duchy is ready for
:01:04. > :01:13.visitors at the start of thd Easter holidays. Welcome to Dawlish.
:01:14. > :01:17.Exiting the trail passengers have heard today for the first thme since
:01:18. > :01:33.the beginning of February. H was on the platform a couple of months ago
:01:34. > :01:37.when it was strewn with debris. But today, but the of people in this
:01:38. > :01:44.town, the station is once open for business. The element have regularly
:01:45. > :01:50.tested this route but the storm at the beginning of February fhnally
:01:51. > :01:54.won the battle. The sea wall gave way leaving the South West's main
:01:55. > :01:56.rail line hanging in mid air like a rope bridge in an adventure
:01:57. > :02:00.playground. Network Rail promised to have the line reopened in shx weeks,
:02:01. > :02:03.but within days there was another storm. The metal containers put in
:02:04. > :02:06.place to protect the site wdre squashed like tin cans. Enghneers
:02:07. > :02:09.poured thousands of tonnes of concrete into the void. Further down
:02:10. > :02:12.the track there was another hazard. The cliff face was in danger of
:02:13. > :02:16.subsiding and had to be delhberately brought down to make the arda safe.
:02:17. > :02:19.Since then Network Rail has worked around the clock to reconnect the
:02:20. > :02:23.rail line from Plymouth and Cornwall to the rest of the country.
:02:24. > :02:26.And today, as promised, the line was handed back to the train opdrators,
:02:27. > :02:40.prompting a day of celebrathon here in Dawlish as Andrea Ormsby reports.
:02:41. > :02:48.A sight for sore eyes. And ` sound sorely missed. Dawlish is b`ck in
:02:49. > :02:57.business. The bunting is out and people are happy. That is absolutely
:02:58. > :03:02.fantastic. Absolutely brillhant I felt marooned for a few months. I do
:03:03. > :03:08.not drive. The buses have bden marvellous. I use the service they
:03:09. > :03:16.like. It is a lovely day. It is really exciting. I had a brtshed
:03:17. > :03:22.request this morning was about walked down to the station. I got
:03:23. > :03:31.the 750 from Exeter to Dawlhsh. It was magical. The Prime Minister
:03:32. > :03:47.talked to the engineers, known now as the Orange army. He led the thank
:03:48. > :03:50.you 's. T... The emergency services. D`day for Dawlish and the whole of
:03:51. > :04:04.the Southwest. Just in time for Easter. The Legion has been cut off
:04:05. > :04:08.from the main network since the beginning of February. The
:04:09. > :04:14.passengers were able to board a train again all the way to London. I
:04:15. > :04:28.joined some of the computers `` commuters. You can get on a train
:04:29. > :04:34.here now all the way to the capital. I would go on part of the journey to
:04:35. > :04:39.Exeter. Here we are. Dawn over Dawlish. That famous few passengers
:04:40. > :04:45.have not been able to see for a couple of months. The sea conditions
:04:46. > :04:51.are flat calm today. It is hard to imagine that could have caused so
:04:52. > :04:55.much damage to this line. The journey is going well so far. That
:04:56. > :05:06.what some of the other passdngers make of it. Suddenly, we ard back to
:05:07. > :05:18.normality. How much disrupthon hazard caused to question `` caused
:05:19. > :05:23.you? You have a knock`on effect in catching flights and having to put
:05:24. > :05:30.meetings back to the afternoon. Or you have an extra day and stay in
:05:31. > :05:39.London. It is a lot of disrtption. It was quite emotional to go through
:05:40. > :05:47.Dawlish. You'd thought, good heavens, this is the age of steam.
:05:48. > :05:52.It is to `` good to be up and running as abusive the staff are
:05:53. > :05:59.pleased. The bunting is out. It is the great British bulldog spirit. I
:06:00. > :06:06.am heading to London. It is just a day in London. Have a good journey.
:06:07. > :06:15.It is the end of the line for me. This train now goes on to T`unton,
:06:16. > :06:24.reading and then into the c`pital. As we saw earlier in the programme,
:06:25. > :06:27.one of the trains arriving here today brought down the Primd
:06:28. > :06:33.Minister. I asked him what he thought of the engineering with
:06:34. > :06:38.which has taken place. It is a proud day and a great feat of enghneering.
:06:39. > :06:44.Hardwick and community spirht has this done slightly before thme. It
:06:45. > :06:57.is good news for Dawlish and the whole country. People are now
:06:58. > :07:03.reconnected. We have done everything we can to get this line open. We are
:07:04. > :07:08.now taking a serious study forward. The interim report will comd out in
:07:09. > :07:13.July, looking at alternativds. If there was a simple answer, ht would
:07:14. > :07:16.have come up with years ago. Meanwhile, letters to everything we
:07:17. > :07:25.can to make this line as resilient as we can. There will be a fear now
:07:26. > :07:29.is that people would go awax and think the area is fine and nothing
:07:30. > :07:37.needs to be done. So that study will be looked at? Absolutely. Nobody.
:07:38. > :07:44.The last hole and at the rahlway line and the tracks suspenddd in the
:07:45. > :07:48.air will forget this issue. It remains front and centre, a real
:07:49. > :07:53.government priority, to makd sure we help this part of our country. Many
:07:54. > :08:00.feel they have lost a lot of money and tourist business feels they have
:08:01. > :08:08.lost out was that is still ` lot of damage in that respect to rdpair?
:08:09. > :08:14.Many will be put in advertising Today is an important day as a
:08:15. > :08:21.commercial. That is also help that we brought forward in the btdget. We
:08:22. > :08:41.are helping on business ratds and people can help by investing and
:08:42. > :08:45.shopping here. Well, it's clear that MPs of all
:08:46. > :08:48.parties in the region will be keeping up the pressure on the
:08:49. > :08:55.Government to deliver. Here's Ben Bradshaw, the Labour MP for Exeter.
:08:56. > :09:03.We need to make sure our rahlway lines and not so vulnerable to these
:09:04. > :09:05.events. We will hear from Ndtwork Rail in a moment.
:09:06. > :09:08.So how did they get this tr`ck up and running again? It has bden a
:09:09. > :09:11.huge engineering project costing around ?35`million in total to
:09:12. > :09:16.repair the station, several breaches in the sea wall and a controlled
:09:17. > :09:21.landslip further along the line It has taken 300 engineers working
:09:22. > :09:27.around the clock. Six thous`nd tonnes of concrete and 150 tonnes of
:09:28. > :09:30.steel has been used. Our business correspondent Neil Gallacher has
:09:31. > :09:39.been taking a look at how it was done. But the ceded to Dawlhsh seems
:09:40. > :09:43.unthinkable when you see how things were before the storm. Thesd stills
:09:44. > :09:51.by other cameraman were takdn to days before the weather hit. That
:09:52. > :09:57.was first light in the mornhng of the 5th of February when Stdve don't
:09:58. > :10:06.some of the most memorable loving images. This was the main breach in
:10:07. > :10:16.the railway. 80 metres from end to end and 11 feet deep. A dangerous
:10:17. > :10:21.place and to the elements stbsided. Details were kept and enginders
:10:22. > :10:27.began improvising. The old track was laid along the exposed surf`ce to
:10:28. > :10:34.hold it together. Concrete was laid in layers. Should be `` shipping
:10:35. > :10:42.containers were placed as a makeshift breakwater. And I'm the
:10:43. > :10:47.same time, scaffold was being built across the rear of the chasl. This
:10:48. > :11:00.allowed engineers to move around safely. The bed of the railway had
:11:01. > :11:08.has bedded cables. This scaffolding was nearing completion by the 1 th
:11:09. > :11:14.of February. A second storm on the 14th was also extremely violent We
:11:15. > :11:19.sat back in the waiting rool in the station and the whole station was
:11:20. > :11:29.shaking with the waves. We were not sure what we had come out to. The
:11:30. > :11:38.scaffold held. They lengthened the rear quarter and carried on to the
:11:39. > :11:46.next stage. They could not tse ordinarily wouldn't shifting to hold
:11:47. > :11:49.the concrete. They improvisdd and brought in concrete collision
:11:50. > :11:55.barriers from the road industry They built them up like a Ldgo ball
:11:56. > :11:58.to contain the concrete. Thdy weighed three times each and ended
:11:59. > :12:07.up part of the final structtre. By early March, they could bring in the
:12:08. > :12:11.final blocks. It took more than a week to get them down and then they
:12:12. > :12:18.were secured by one final port of concrete. Once the stone ballast was
:12:19. > :12:25.in place, the rails went down. The main contractor says it is nothing
:12:26. > :12:31.if not solid. The amount of concrete and work makes that has comd in
:12:32. > :12:40.there will be fit for anothdr 2 0 years without a shadow of a doubt. I
:12:41. > :12:46.cannot vote for any other sdctions of the wall that mine is good. The
:12:47. > :12:51.repair was just part of the job They were smaller creatures to
:12:52. > :13:07.blag, damages to the station and a cliff fall to take care of. It was
:13:08. > :13:10.an extraordinary project. Patrick Hallgate from Network Rail
:13:11. > :13:13.spoke to Justin earlier this afternoon about the huge engineering
:13:14. > :13:23.project to get the Dawlish line re`opened. A variety of enghneering
:13:24. > :13:34.works. The wall collapsed w`s part of it. You also had the land slip
:13:35. > :13:42.which had material that had to come down off the cliff face. Both of
:13:43. > :13:49.those were major projects. The rebuilt sections will probably
:13:50. > :13:53.withstand a lot now but this line is still only as strong as its weakest
:13:54. > :14:00.link. What more needs to be done to future proof this line? We note the
:14:01. > :14:03.storms were freak events but we know climate is changing. We are
:14:04. > :14:11.conducting a study which looks at the future proofing alone sdven
:14:12. > :14:15.miles of coastline to see what we can do to add to the resilidnce of
:14:16. > :14:30.this line. What options are being considered as a Mac we need to
:14:31. > :14:38.consider the flood defences. It has a future as far as Network Rail is
:14:39. > :14:52.concerned? It is important `s a vital rail link to the south`west.
:14:53. > :14:56.We should not forget the hotses that were close to the line. Although the
:14:57. > :15:03.rail line is back in place, the whole in front of those houses is
:15:04. > :15:12.still there. Some people have not returned. For them, but is still a
:15:13. > :15:16.lot of work to do. Time for the rest of the news and sport.
:15:17. > :15:19.Dawlish, of course, wasn't the only place affected by the storms.
:15:20. > :15:23.Millions of pounds worth of damage was caused as the South West was
:15:24. > :15:26.battered by high winds and high tides. Repair work is underway, but
:15:27. > :15:29.as the crucial Easter tourism season gets underway there are concerns
:15:30. > :15:34.about where all the money whll come from. In a moment I'll be speaking
:15:35. > :15:45.to Malcolm Bell from Visit Cornwall about the impact and the future but
:15:46. > :15:51.first Tamsin Melville reports. Cornwall felt the full forcd of the
:15:52. > :15:58.winter storms. The waves left behind millions of pounds worth of damage.
:15:59. > :16:02.The Penzance area was particularly badly hit. The faces on to get it
:16:03. > :16:11.patched up as the rail into Cornwell reopens. Economic Lee speakhng, it
:16:12. > :16:15.says Cornwell is open for btsiness and business is good. But that is an
:16:16. > :16:21.awful lot of work to do beshdes that to make sure Cornwell is well
:16:22. > :16:25.presented for the summer. Tdmporary jobs have been going on across the
:16:26. > :16:30.country. But permanent jobs are also crucial. It could top ?21 mhllion.
:16:31. > :16:38.That is concerned with all this cash will come from. We have had no money
:16:39. > :16:47.from the government at the loment. We haven't about 1 million pounds
:16:48. > :16:56.from a friend and ?1 million from an emergency fund. For those w`iting to
:16:57. > :17:04.hear where fans will come from, it is an anxious time. It is ilportant
:17:05. > :17:12.that this facility is opened again as a tourist attraction. Wh`t are
:17:13. > :17:19.the visitors think when thex see it in this state this summer? The
:17:20. > :17:22.council says it is in daily conversations with ministers. It
:17:23. > :17:26.says Cornwell is open for btsiness. Malcolm Bell is with me now. Great
:17:27. > :17:36.news about the rail link but can tourism recover from the impact We
:17:37. > :17:41.are still on the recovery. The great news is that the railway line is
:17:42. > :17:46.open two weeks earlier which gives us a full run for Easter. Pdople
:17:47. > :17:56.will be curious about the d`mage. They will want to see that `ppeared
:17:57. > :18:03.pretty quickly. People will realise the storms were recent. We're hoping
:18:04. > :18:08.to be tidied up and back to itself in summer. How concerned ard you
:18:09. > :18:20.about the amount of repair work that still needs to be done? Every delay
:18:21. > :18:23.knocks everything else on. The same sort of urgency that has done a
:18:24. > :18:27.brilliant job at Dawlish nedds to happen to finish off the job and
:18:28. > :18:30.finish of the recovery. We see pictures of the Jubilee Pool locked
:18:31. > :18:42.up in Penzance. It's not a good advert. Martin was right whdn he
:18:43. > :18:48.said people were not becoming back they will be hoping to see ht back
:18:49. > :18:56.to normal. Will visitors want to return if half the places they love
:18:57. > :19:00.aren't accessible? The curiosity will be a get out of jail c`rd but
:19:01. > :19:15.then they will want to see ht back to normal. What should be done? We
:19:16. > :19:21.are working with the council. Councils can then negotiate with
:19:22. > :19:29.government. The pressure is on and Cornwell can be a focal place at
:19:30. > :19:31.times. People are shouting loud Princess Anne has sparked
:19:32. > :19:38.controversy by suggesting b`dgers should be gassed. In a BBC hnterview
:19:39. > :19:44.to be shown this weekend, she says gassing would be the most htmane way
:19:45. > :19:47.to eradicate badgers. In thd 19 0s cyanide was pumped into sets, but it
:19:48. > :19:55.was later banned after scientists concluded it was not humane. Gas is
:19:56. > :20:00.a much nicer way of doing it, if that is not a silly expresshon. It
:20:01. > :20:03.is because of the way it works. They go to sleep.
:20:04. > :20:06.And you can see more of that interview on BBC One's Countryfile
:20:07. > :20:08.Programme this Sunday evening at 7pm.
:20:09. > :20:12.One of the main roads into Truro was closed for much of the day `fter a
:20:13. > :20:15.huge diesel spillage. A combine harvester leaked around sevdn
:20:16. > :20:18.hundred litres of fuel onto the A390. Maintenance staff hopd they
:20:19. > :20:23.have managed to avoid having to re`surface the road.
:20:24. > :20:26.Sport and the question being asked is can Devon trainer David Pipe win
:20:27. > :20:29.his first Grand National in six years when the world's most famous
:20:30. > :20:33.Steeplechase graces Aintree racecourse tomorrow? His best priced
:20:34. > :20:38.horse this year is The Pack`ge at 33 to one. Pipe has two more horses in
:20:39. > :20:47.the event: Our Father and Swing Bill, but it's The Package who Pipe
:20:48. > :20:57.has high hopes for. He is in good form. I understand you have high
:20:58. > :21:03.hopes, Wiley? He jumps, he stays, that is what it takes to win the
:21:04. > :21:06.race. He won a cracking racd at Cheltenham last time.
:21:07. > :21:10.Onto football and Yeovil face another vital match as they try to
:21:11. > :21:13.stay in the Championship tolorrow. They're six points from safdty and
:21:14. > :21:17.need a win at Blackpool. In League Two, Plymouth Argyle could love to
:21:18. > :21:19.within a point of the play off places with victory at Burton.
:21:20. > :21:22.Torquay, who're seven points from safety are at home to Scunthorpe
:21:23. > :21:25.while Exeter City will virttally secure their League status hf they
:21:26. > :21:28.beat Bury. Exeter Chiefs will carry rugby's
:21:29. > :21:32.Anglo`Welsh Cup in a victorx parade through the city tomorrow. From two
:21:33. > :21:35.o'clock, they'll show off the trophy they won three weeks ago whdn they
:21:36. > :21:39.beat Northampton Saints at Sandy Park. The team and staff will go on
:21:40. > :21:42.an open top bus tour through the city centre.
:21:43. > :21:47.The route starts at Exeter City s St James Park ground, before proceeding
:21:48. > :21:50.to Bedford Square. After th`t, they'll be greeted by the Lord Mayor
:21:51. > :21:54.for a civic reception at thd Guildhall. The team will thdn make
:21:55. > :21:58.its way back to St James Park. And there's live coverage on BBC Radio
:21:59. > :22:02.Devon from 2pm. If you're going along, don't forget
:22:03. > :22:06.to share your pictures of the Chiefs' big day on our Facebook page
:22:07. > :22:09.where you'll also find much more on the Grand National. That's `ll from
:22:10. > :22:11.me in the studio. I'll say goodbye and hand you back to Justin in
:22:12. > :22:21.Dawlish. Thank you very much indeed. I cannot
:22:22. > :22:27.quite describe the atmosphere here in Dawlish today. It has bedn a bit
:22:28. > :22:32.like a carnival at times with bunting and flags flying
:22:33. > :22:38.everywhere. The station has been freshly painted and there h`s been a
:22:39. > :22:42.lot of music. The flower boxes have been planted up by volunteers and
:22:43. > :22:50.they are looking fantastic. I saw someone with a sign that saxs we are
:22:51. > :22:56.back on track. After all thd weather has thrown at this town in the last
:22:57. > :23:03.few months, on its big day the sun has been shining. What bettdr advert
:23:04. > :23:08.for Dawlish than that field. Time for the weather.
:23:09. > :23:17.Good evening. It is like thd Mediterranean along this co`st
:23:18. > :23:20.line. Only a few weeks ago, this part of the coastline had htge
:23:21. > :23:29.waves. That is no way we cotld have been standing here with wavds 2
:23:30. > :23:33.feet high. He horizon is cldar. The then we saw yesterday has w`shed
:23:34. > :23:39.away all of the pollution and Sahara desert. Now we have sparkling
:23:40. > :23:43.visibility at the end of thd day. This weekend, the weather whll not
:23:44. > :23:53.be as kind. Letters start whth a summary. More cloud coming hn. A
:23:54. > :23:59.very cloudy weekend. Some ottbreaks of rain. Misty conditions and
:24:00. > :24:07.relatively mild as well. Thd satellite picture shows the change
:24:08. > :24:20.as more rain approaches the coast. For many of us, we will see low
:24:21. > :24:30.temperatures. One weather front is poised to move in. That will have
:24:31. > :24:36.moved in by tomorrow. By midday on Sunday, a change in the weather
:24:37. > :24:42.pattern. We will continue to see a lot of cloud and outbreaks of rain.
:24:43. > :24:51.Even by Monday, there is sthll some rain around. But fine weathdr
:24:52. > :25:02.overnight into Tuesday. You can see that is a lot of clear skies at the
:25:03. > :25:04.moment. But it does not last. That is the forecast this evening. Cloud
:25:05. > :25:10.increasing and outbreaks of rain coming in as well. The cloud will
:25:11. > :25:17.gradually spill in and cover most of us by the end of the night.
:25:18. > :25:22.Overnight temperatures back up to nine or 10 degrees by first light
:25:23. > :25:28.tomorrow morning. Outbreaks of rain on Saturday. Maybe some coastal
:25:29. > :25:38.fog. Certainly a lot of hill fog around. Some breakfast trying to get
:25:39. > :25:45.through. It is not a cold d`y despite the cloud and rain. It is
:25:46. > :25:53.always cooler on the coast. That is the forecast. Generally a lot of
:25:54. > :25:58.clout around for the Isles of Scilly.
:25:59. > :26:06.If you are heading for the beach, the safe is picking up. Conditions
:26:07. > :26:11.have been poor for the last week or so. But we should see up to four
:26:12. > :26:15.feet and a little bit choppx on the north coast. Similar condithons on
:26:16. > :26:16.the south coast with even bhgger waves by the time we get into
:26:17. > :26:35.Sunday. The outlook is for Sunday to be wet.
:26:36. > :26:40.Outbreaks of rain. Every tile we get to Monday, we were still have that
:26:41. > :26:44.weather front close by. It gets better by the time we get to
:26:45. > :26:48.Tuesday. From a beautiful Mediterranean type evening, it is
:26:49. > :26:58.back to you Justin on the r`ilway line. Today is the start of a new
:26:59. > :27:02.era for this railway line which first opened 160 years ago. That
:27:03. > :27:09.promises tonight that the rdpaired sections will last for 200 xears.
:27:10. > :27:19.For now, the south`west is back on track. Good night.
:27:20. > :27:30.Dawn over Dawlish. It is hard to imagine that could have caused so
:27:31. > :27:40.much damage to this line. Wdlcome to Dawlish. That is the rate for the
:27:41. > :27:48.Orange army. `` let us hear it for the Orange army. It is emothonal.
:27:49. > :27:49.You think this is the age of