Posted 30th September 2024 | 6 Comments
Monday briefing: Storm strands trains on Dawlish coast
Trains stranded by storm
Two Intercity Express trains were stranded at Dawlish and Teignmouth during a storm last night, along the stretch of coastal railway in south Devon which was partly destroyed by heavy seas just over ten years ago. GWR said: ’It’s not yet known why and Hitachi will need to investigate the cause of any issues to those trains.’ Train services in the region are mostly returning to normal today after the storm. Several lines were closed, including part of the main line west of Exeter and two branches in Cornwall, and early morning trains from Newquay were cancelled this morning because there is still floodwater on the line. Meanwhile, train services between Wolverhampton and Shrewsbury are not expected to be restored before the end of the day, as the result of flooding at Wellington, although the Marston Vale Line between Bletchley and Bedford reopened this morning after services had been suspended for seven days, again because of flooding.
HS1 access charges may fall
ORR has proposed lower charges for passenger trains which use High Speed 1 between London St Pancras International and the Channel Tunnel, and halving charges for freight traffic. The plan, published today, is part of its Draft Determination of HS1 Ltd’s spending. The draft sets out ORR’s view of HS1 Ltd’s five-year spending from 2025 to 2030, and the ORR said it was able to ‘identify specific areas in the company’s spending plans where further improvements can be made’.
Peak fare restoration condemned
Peak fares are being charged on ScotRail again, after a 12-month experiment to see if abolishing them would boost traffic. The trial did not yield the results for which ministers had hoped, and Transport Scotland said it was not financially possible to continue. ASLEF has added its voice to the protests, after the RMT had opposed restoring the higher fares last month. The drivers’ union has condemned the return of peak fares as a ‘tax on workers’, and described the decision as ‘short sighted’.
Reader Comments:
Views expressed in submitted comments are that of the author, and not necessarily shared by Railnews.
James Hutton, Oxford
Perhaps Network Rail should cost a Dawlish Avoiding Line as proposed by GWR in the 1930s (see Wikipedia for this). I feel there is a lesson from the story of King Canute with work on the Dawlish Sea Wall.
david C smith, Bletchley
It seems Exeter has the larger "footfall" at present, much of which is interchange passengers ; would there be more potential growth at Plymouth ,though? ( given the propensity for steep increases in passenger numbers where journey time is reduced within a 3 1/2 hrs to 2 1/2 hrs band }.
[It is already there. Average journey time London-Plymouth is about 3h10m. As my contribution to this, I suggest there is no business case for avoiding Exeter St David's, particularly at the cost of a new chord at Cowley Bridge Junction. Restoring Okehampton-Tavistock is an attractive idea, but London trains using it would have to reverse at Exeter en route (and reverse again at Plymouth if continuing to Cornwall).--Ed.]
david C smith, Bletchley
Difficult to assess , I guess, how Exeter and Plymouth compare as potential traffic sources. It seems Plymouth could do with some faster paths to counter a possible competition from aviation , whilst Exeter is that much closer to London, Bristol, Birmingham and so not so subject to such potential competition. Additionally, Plymouth has a larger population. What I am uncertain about is how loss of some services at Exeter together with some faster ones for Plymouth would impact on total traffic level , one way or the other.
[Station usage stats from the ORR for 2022-23 say 2,617,322 for Exeter St David's and 2,313,092 for Plymouth. Exeter does have a smaller population but is by far the busiest interchange hub west of Reading on the GWML via Westbury. In 2022-23 1,225,850 people changed trains at Exeter St D., and 90,291 at Plymouth.?Ed.]
Joel Kosminsky, London
Bypassing Exeter would deprive trains of a major traffic objective, reducing revenue to whomever is operating services. This would have to be traded off against the cost and convenience of a simpler alternative route. Which comes first, passengers (and maybe freight) or operational convenience?
david C smith, Bletchley
Could the ex - LSWR route via Tavistock and Okehampton perform such a role ? My guess is that in order for this, a new connection would be needed just north of Exeter , at Cowly Bridge, to allow trains to bypass Exeter , going directly from the Crediton direction to the line to Taunton.The ex - GWR line via Newton Abbot would , of course remain to cater to various services . The ones suggested via Okehampton would likely be Plymouth - Paddington , fulfilling an InterCity role.
James Hutton, Oxford
The continuing problems at Dawlish suggest an alternative primary route from Exeter to Plymouth and Cornwall are needed. Could the existing route be electrified? If we want to encourage more to use the train rather than a car, disruption must be very infrequent.