PASSENGERS travelling on the Looe Valley Line are being urged to check their journeys next month as a major tree-maintenance programme is set to disrupt rail services between Liskeard and Looe.

Network Rail will carry out extensive vegetation-management work from Monday, December 8 to Friday, December 19, cutting back trees and shrubs that have encroached on the trackside.

The work is designed to keep the line safe for both passengers and railway workers, with overgrown vegetation posing risks such as damaging trains or reducing visibility for drivers.

Because of the scale of the project, buses will replace all trains between Liskeard and Looe throughout the 12-day period. Services on the main line between Plymouth and Penzance will continue to operate as normal.

Replacement buses will stop at Liskeard, St Keyne, Duloe, Sandplace and Looe, but will not serve Coombe Junction Halt. Passengers travelling to or from Coombe Junction are advised to contact Great Western Railway, which will arrange taxis at no extra cost.

Chris O’Connell, Network Rail’s portfolio manager, said the work was essential to maintaining a safe and reliable railway.

“Trees and bushes can damage trains or block the driver’s view, so it’s vital to keep the railway clear,” he said. “We’re sorry for the disruption but our work will keep trains running safely and reliably.”

Network Rail said the December works mark the first phase of a wider programme of maintenance and improvements along the branch line. A further period of disruption is already scheduled, with additional work planned between Monday, February 23 and Friday, March 6, once again affecting train services on the Looe Valley Line.

Sharon Holloway, GWR’s station manager for Plymouth and East Cornwall, added. “This investment forms part of a wider rail-improvement programme to ensure the ongoing reliability of a key leisure route for the region.”