Posted 24th February 2014 | 9 Comments
South west MP calls for rail resilience conference
A NEW later train to the south west of England will leave London Paddington from tonight, in a bid to compensate for the continuing break in the main line at Dawlish. Meanwhile a Plymouth MP has called for a conference to examine ways of improving the resilience of railways in the south west.
Network Rail is now predicting that repairs to the storm-damaged section at Dawlish may not be completed until mid-April, so First Great Western has introduced a 21.35 Paddington departure from tonight which will call at Reading, Taunton and Tiverton Parkway, reaching Exeter at 23.51. A special coach from Tiverton Parkway will take passengers onward to Plymouth, Bodmin, Truro and Penzance. Another coach will provide a road link from Exeter St David's to Newton Abbot.
FGW has already said that the suspended Night Riviera sleeper service will return when the Dawlish section can reopen, but hopes that its new evening departure from London will be some compensation until then.
FGW general manager west David Crome said: "The sleeper will be back once Network Rail completes the work at Dawlish and until then we will do everything we can to minimise disruption."
Labour MP Alison Seabeck, who represents the Plymouth Moor View constituency, has called for an urgent high level conference to examine ways of improving the south west's rail links. She has been critical of the lack of network resilience demonstrated by bad weather since the turn of the year, pointing out that: "This is the main London to Penzance line we are talking about, not some minor branch line from a Thomas the Tank engine period."
She continued: “We were promised over £30 million of funding last year to simply do some resilience work at Exeter, not stop the flooding impacts entirely but mitigate it and get rail open more quickly. But now they and government Ministers have gone silent on whether this will actually be provided.
"In the last letter to Plymouth City Council no mention was made of emergency funding for rail support at all. I really feel for those whose homes and businesses have been directly affected by the extreme weather. Plymouth Waterfront has been severely hit, with many pubs and restaurants being devastatingly damaged.
“Last time the rail line was cut off at Exeter due to severe weather and flooding it was estimated that it cost the South West economy in the region of £170 million."
However she welcomed the news of the extra train, saying: "I am delighted First Great Western have listened to concerns raised from people in Plymouth. Putting on this additional train shows Plymouth is open for business and FGW deserve credit for acting to support the city."
Reader Comments:
Views expressed in submitted comments are that of the author, and not necessarily shared by Railnews.
Dick Cliffe, Penzance
As an earlier contributor has already mentioned, the real issue is the lack of a high speed direct service to Cornwall and the impact that has on the region. The typical 5 hr 35 min journey time to Penzance is a major handicap in an area so dependent on tourism. Newcastle is a similar distance from London (300 mls) and has a journey time of ~3 hrs. You can even get to Glasgow in 4 hrs 35 from London. 'Bodging' Dawlish is essential in the short term but continuing the routing of all rail traffic to Cornwall via Plymouth just stifles the Cornish economy.
Anthony Bruton, Bristol
Editor, you're too kind! (I hope you signed the petition.)
The roughly 18 miles of track for the LSWR route via Tavistock would cost £600 million? The price keeps going up! A couple of weeks ago a figure of about £400 million was being kicked about, even that seems a bit steep. Is about £37million per mile reasonable? Even if a new Meldon Viaduct (165 m) has to be built from scratch, how much would it cost? The New Europe Bridge (about 2,000 m) across the Danube only cost about €226 million, which may or may not put things in perspective.
The Plymouth Herald (link not included) reports that five possible options are being considered by "rail bosses". Does anyone know what these are?
[Now there's a question. My guesses are [1] Stick with present route, but fortify it [2] Reopen LSWR main line as a diversionary route [3] As 2, but as the future main line, with Dawlish reduced in status or even closed (unlikely without an alternative route to Newton Abbot and Torbay from the London direction) [4] Revive the prewar GWR scheme for an inland cutoff (various options for precise route) [5] Do something imaginative with the old Teign Valley line.--Editor]
Anthony Bruton, Bristol
Support the re-opening of the LSWR via Okehampton and Tavistock by signing the petition on the Government's website.
Google "Government petition 60302" to find it.
(Railnews doesn't allow external links in comments.)
[Oh, all right. On this occasion I'm going to be flexible about this blatant attempt to skirt round our house rules. It's at http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/60302, and already has more than 1,500 signatures. However, Mark Carne told the Commons Transport Committee yesterday that the cost would be upwards of £600 million. Good luck.--Editor]
James, Derby
Bere Alston to Tavistock line is currently in the design stage and will reopen as a single track 55mph line (Although not entirely sure when as a Development Consent Order won't be applied for until next year) It won't reach the original station in the town, but a new station will be built to the South West.
Meldon Viaduct is wrought and cast iron so it is difficult to ascertain its strength. A rebuild would be required.
The slow-speed route, longer distance, longer journey times to get to Plymouth, the massive cost of rebuilding Meldon Viaduct and the fact it will not serve the Torbay area should all collectively kibosh any plans to reopen the Okehampton route.
Melvyn Windebank, Canvey Island, Essex
Given the time it takes to get to Penzance and the major upgrade and electrification of the GWR with new trains able to run in electric or diesel mode surely we should be looking at building a new main line designed for speeds of 125-140 mph . As funding the project well we could reduce contingency for HS2 and use that money to fund the new railway !
Of course the Anti Hs2 brigade have tried to use this as an excuse to not build HS2 but of course next time flooding occurs it might be WCML that's cut off !
John Gilbert, Cradley
Excellent idea to put Plymouth and further west passengers on coaches at Tiverton Parkway, right beside the M5 and a speedy journey to Plymouth.
As to the LSWR line reopening, well, when, first, is the bit from Bere Alston to Tavistock opening? Discussions, discussions, discussions are all that ever seems to happen there! When is THAT bit of railway ever going to be opened? What snail-like progress. Is it all just waffle - as so often in the UK? (And they had better buy up the buildings at Tavistock station SOON so that a through track can be relaid!!)
Meldon Viaduct was always something of a stumbling block in BR days. For example rebuilt Bulleid Pacifics were not allowed over it, though the original unrebuilt, 'air-smoothed' locos were. It would be interesting to know the weight distribution of an HST. How does the weight of the power-cars compare, say, with both an unrebuilt and a rebuilt Bulleid Pacific? (Which would be the crucial issue.)
A single line via Okehampton could be faster than the original double-track as the single formation could swerve from side to side of the many curves between Okehampton and Plymouth and permit faster speeds. Yes, the route is hilly - a constant gable from Exeter to Sourton and then down to Plymouth in fact, but with modern power cars that should not hamper overall speeds greatly. After all, the GWR route is hardly flat!!
Tony Pearce, Reading
Normally I would expect any inquiry and report to be pushed off into the sidings. But we have several factors against this. There is an Election in just over a year, and the South West is a political battleground between the Lib-Dems and the Conservatives. Labour also sees it as an 'opportunity' for elctioneering. There has been some big swings in votes down there over the years so nothing can be taken for granted. The best solution would be a completely new main line, and possibly a single track re-opening of the old Atlantic Coasst Express route as well. I have walked over the old bridge at Meldon Quarry but would doubt if that is strong enough to carry a double track with HSTs. Maybe SW Railnews readers can put pressure on their MPs to actually do something this time. And not let the ideas disappear with the flood water.
Andrew Blurton, stafford
Why is the government relying to much on the motorway network nowadays & is it also now causing a lot of these problems for all the local companies & businesses with these branch lines closed & also creating a lot of chaos & chaotic activity unfairly for all these train operators when these severe weather situations do happen nowadays!!
john carter, lymington
Somewhat shortsighted to have just one rail link to Cornwall with a long stretch subject to flooding at Exeter and another in peril of the sea at Dawlish.
The line around the North of Dartmoor should never have been closed; passenger numbers aside, the strategic necessity is surely vital for connection to the naval dock at Plymouth.