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The sea wall has always been prone to damage during stormy weather as it runs alongside the open sea at the base of cliffs for four miles. The first time this occurred was just a few months after the line opened. In September 1846 repairs were necessary to the wall north of Parson's Tunnel which had been built with loose rock instead of the masonry wall seen elsewhere, and then on October 4 storms broke through the wall in several places and services had to terminate at Dawlish. That night the high tide flooded the line where it ran alongside the River Exe and more breaches occurred as the storm continued into Monday. South of Parson's Tunnel the sand was scoured from the beach and this caused another cavity under the wall. Repairs started on October 7 when the storm had died down. Trains could run through to Teignmouth again after just 50 hours and the loose rock was replaced by a permanent wall the following winter.
On the morning of 24 December 1852 there was a rock fall from the cliff at Breeches Rock, the same place that the wall had been damaged in 1846. A train was stopped before it hit the rocks and the passengers had to walk past the blockage to join trains on the other side, but the line was reopened after a few hours. Later that week a larger fall happened which blocked the line early on December 29, this time knocking some of the wall into the sea. Passengers were transferred between Dawlish and Teignmouth by road for two days, after which trains could approach the blockage so passengers could again walk past to join trains on the other side. The line reopened for through trains after a total of four days.
On Monday 12 February 1855 large portions of the sea wall were washed away. Despite repair work starting promptly four days later more of the sea wall and a long 70 yards (64 m) section of line were also washed away. Passengers were obliged to leave their trains and carry their luggage some distance to join another. A temporary viaduct was constructed by the resident engineer, Mr. Margery, and was in operation within a couple of weeks which allowed the through operation of coaches, pulled by hand and rope, although some nervous passengers still alighted and walked.
The night of 25 October 1859 saw the largest storm to hit Devon in 35 years. The Exe river wall was damaged at Turf and Powderham. On the coastal section the dividing wall between the footway and railway was knocked down near Langstone, while the line was flooded where it was at beach level between Dawlish and Kennaway tunnel. At Teignmouth the top of the wall was damaged and the sea flooded through Eastcliff tunnel into the station. One train was stuck at Dawlish but the line reopened at 11 a.m. on 27 October when a line was reinstated at Turf.
The sea undermined the wall north of Dawlish on 31 January 1869 leading to the collapse of 80 yards (73 m) of wall. A train was stopped at Dawlish where passengers were taken by road to Dawlish Warren to join a special train, even though there was no station at the Warren at this time! After this passengers were taken to Starcross until a temporary line across the breach was opened for traffic on 4 February. This was the section south of Rockstone where no footway was provided to keep good views from the houses behind the railway. After the breach it was rebuilt at the higher level that had been used from Rockstone to Langstone from the opening of the line.
The winter of 1872-1873 saw a series of breaches. On Christmas Day 1872 around 60 yards (55 m) of wall was washed away by heavy waves near Rockstone. Engineers were laying a second track here so this was brought into use later the same day although passengers had to change trains between the two lines until the original line could be restored. Only a few days later, on December 30, a larger breach undermined the tracks at the same place causing trains to stop either side of the gap until 1 January 1873. Then early on the morning of 1 January another 40 yards (37 m) of sea wall was breached between 30 yards (27 m) and 40 yards (37 m) above the breach of Christmas Day. This breach washed out 0.25 miles (0.40 km) of the sandstone rock on which the wall was originally built, the wall being completely undermined in places with cavities up to 2 feet (0.61 m). Despite this, trains continued to run on the new single track. Most of the repairs were destroyed in a gale during the night of 1 and 2 February and also a section 30 yards (27 m) to the north. The three breaches stretched over 200 yards (180 m) and it was feared that Rockstone footbridge might collapse. Road transport was instigated between Dawlish and Starcross including extra horses and wagonettes brought up from
Plymouth by special train. The carriages of the overnight mail train to London was pushed across on February 3 and services then started to return to normal.
After the storms of 1873 there was no significant damage for fifty years. Some preventative work was started in 1918 to reduce the likelihood of cliff falls near Langstone and Sprey Point. While this was taking place a cliff fall blocked the line near Sprey Point on 12 March 1923. One track was reopened on the 14th and the second on the 22nd.
Single line working was needed on 24 December 1930 when the wall was undermined at Riviera terrace north of the Coastguard footbridge. Late on 4 January 1931 another storm caused a 50 feet (15 m) section here to be undermined and the material supporting the track was sucked out. The hole was filled by
granite blocks and quick-setting cement. Single-line working was possible from midday on January 8. Later that year 638 yards (583 m) of wall foundations were strengthened and some of the
groynes that prevent the beach being eroded were lengthened. There was a breach of the river wall at Powderham on 10 February 1936 which closed the line until 12 February.
On Christmas Eve 1929 a large portion of the wall near the Coastguard Station cracked and gave way, causing partial subsidence of the down line. Traffic was able to continue on the up line. Whilst repairs proceeded quickly, on 4 January 1930 another breach occurred when the foundations of the track were washed away leaving a chasm 25 feet (7.6 m) deep and extending for 50 feet (15 m) which resulted in the complete closure of the line. Repairs were undertaken under the supervision of Mr. H.E. Damen, a divisional engineer, and the line re-opened within three days.
On 17 November 1965 stormy seas created a 60 feet (18 m) gap in the sea wall between Dawlish and Dawlish Warren. British Rail managed to keep services running with trains restricted to 10 miles per hour (16 km/h) but repairs took three weeks.
The first significant closure in fifty years occurred in 1986 between Smuggler's Lane bridge and Sprey point. The sea wall was undermined early on 26 February and material was washed out from beneath the down line, although the wall did not collapse. The sea kept removing stones until the hole was 30 yards (27 m) long. Two more holes opened over the next few days, one either side of the original. Both tracks were closed to regular traffic but engineering trains were able to use the line closest to the cliffs to bring in material to fill the hole. On 1 March freight trains were allowed to use the single track between engineering operations. Providing buses for passengers was difficult over the weekend of March 1 and 2 as resignalling work was taking place north of Exeter so most spare buses were already committed to cover services to
Taunton. Freight and long-distance passenger traffic along the sea wall resumed on the single line on 3 March but local services continued to be replaced by buses until the second line was reopened on 11 March.
The first blockage of the 21st century occurred in September 2006. A storm hit during the afternoon of the 21st and trains were operated in both directions on the up line which kept them further away from the waves that were breaking over the wall. The following day there was a wash out north of Dawlish station which caused the down line to be closed, but normal working resumed on September 23.
On the night of 4 February 2014,
amid high winds and extremely rough seas, part of the sea wall at Dawlish was breached, washing away around 40 metres (130 ft) of the wall and the ballast under the railway immediately behind. It was initially hoped that the line would only be closed for a short time but further storms prevented work to repair the railway.
