The railway to Cornwall remains vulnerable because high tides and strong winds can throw seawater across the coastal line at Dawlish. The problem dates to the original alignment, which Brunel regarded as an expedient route rather than the permanent inland solution. An inland alternative was repeatedly discussed but never built, leaving severe storms able to interrupt rail links with the Southwest. Building the resilient route after World War I is presented as a missed public-works and employment opportunity.
Notable Point · 2:22:41-2:25:28
The unresolved railway vulnerability at Dawlish
Dawlish shows how an expedient coastal railway alignment became a long-running resilience problem for Southwest England.