WORK is progressing well on the upgrade to Dawlish railway station.

Contractors for Network Rail are on course to complete the work later this year which will include passenger lifts for the first time in the station’s history.

Currently, steel pillars are being installed to hold the toughened glass parapets on the deck of the new accessible footbridge.

The final unit of the platform wall has been installed on the seaward side, now that work has finished pumping concrete through the under-track crossing.

A spokesman said: ‘We’re in the final stages of cladding the wall and laying the remaining granite squares on the section of promenade close to the bridge.

‘We’ve been breaking out the existing stairs from the car park ahead of installing new ones so please use the ramp in the meantime.

‘Thank you to everyone for your continued patience.’

There will also be a new ramp and stairs at the entrance to the station.

The major station upgrade is the latest part of the £82 million sea wall project to protect the vulnerable coastal stretch of railway line from extreme weather conditions.

The new rebuilt sea wall was officially opened earlier in the summer.

It has been completed in two phases, with the latter stage protecting the Grade II listed Dawlish train station.

This work is part of the overall £165 million South West Resilience Programme to create a more resilient railway following devastating storms in 2014, which damaged the tracks beyond use for eight weeks and disconnected passengers from the network.