Devon Rail Corridors and TavyRail
We’re working with both TavyRAIL and Peninsula Rail Group (PRG) campaigning to reinstate important Devon links.
OUR PARTNERS
TavyRail and PRG are groups of rail professionals, academics & stakeholders campaigning to have the railway reinstated to & through Tavistock, Devon.
Regenerating local economic growth
Reconnecting communities
Reducing road congestion and pollution
Restoring lost connectivity as a result of railway closures
BACKGROUND
The South West has been starved of rail investment since the 60s. This has not just been due to lower population levels but to a funding bias. London currently spends £774 per head of population, the North West £337 and South West just £212. This has created at least two major problems. Firstly when Exeter – Okehampton – Tavistock – Plymouth main line (the Northern Route) was closed in 1968, the region was left with a single, weather dependent main line running along the South Coast through Dawlish.
When closed in bad weather it cuts off 750,000 people in Plymouth and Cornwall costing approx. £1 million a day. Secondly, since the 60s closures, around 100,000 people in Central and West Devon and North Cornwall have had no accessible rail service at all.
When combined with a limited road network, this has severely constrained both business and tourist development in the region. This funding bias has to end if the region’s rail infrastructure is to be restored. To give perspective, the HS2 contingency fund is £7.5 billion. An additional Peninsula line could cost £875 million.
SOUTH OF DARTMOOR ROUTE
a one rail route solution – which would not make use of Dawlish sea-wall route
Several rail routes through Newton Abbot have been considered since the 1930s. They not only provide a solution to the line’s resilience but faster journey times. Network Rail estimate the costs are £1.4 and £3.4 billion depending on the route.
Pros
- Provides a weather resilient service
- Estimates suggest journey times between Plymouth Exeter could reduce from 58 to approx. 49 minutes
Cons
- More expensive than reinstating the Northern route
- Much slower to implement as the line requires tunnelling and sections would have to be built from scratch
- 100,000 people in West Devon and North Cornwall would remain without rail services.
NORTH OF DARTMOOR ROUTE
a two route solution – including use of the Dawlish sea-wall route
Dr Beeching considered the Northern Route viable but it was closed for political reasons in 1968. It could be reinstated, with five speed restricting curves optimized, to provide approx. 53 min journey time between Plymouth and Exeter.
Most of the ground works for a two track mainline exist. Network Rail estimate the reinstatement cost at £875 million with a contingency of £300 million. The assumption is that the Dawlish line would remain to serve the coastal populations and build crucial future rail capacity for the Peninsula.
Pros
- Provides a weather resilient service – plus creates important extra mainline passenger capacity
- Estimates suggested journey times between Plymouth Exeter would reduce to approx. 50 minutes*
- It is the cheapest option and would also generate significant additional ticket sales revenue for train operators
- It would be substantially quicker to reinstate as much of the basic mainline infra-structure still exists
- It would restore a rail service to 100,000 people – delivering an estimated 2 million extra rail journeys per year
- Allows for reinstatement important local rail services along the route
- Eases road congestion into both Exeter and Plymouth – especially at rush hour times
- Provides substantial business and tourism benefits to areas needing economic support
Cons
- Up to 3 minutes longer travel times depending on the level of track optimisation and rolling stock adopted
- 2.5 minutes longer to London due to a direction reversal required at Exeter station
CAPACITY AND FUTURE-PROOFING
Rail usage nationwide is expected to double within the next 10 to 20 years. Adding the Northern Route to the current Dawlish line would double rail capacity into the region, so future proofing the Peninsula’s rail network for several decades. Additionally, in the future, Okehampton could be developed into a rail hub for reopened lines to Central and North Cornwall.
Further benefits would include an immediate reduction in road congestion in the Exeter & Plymouth rush hours and peak holiday periods and opening up important new consumer and business hinterlands around Plymouth, Exeter and Okehampton.
TIME AND SPEED
Currently the fastest services between Exeter and Plymouth via Dawlish take 58 minutes. Modern trains running on modern main line track on a speed optimised reinstated Northern Route would reduce this to around 53 minutes.
If a Southern Route were adopted these times could be reduced by a further 2 to 3 minutes to 50 minutes – although at the cost of halving the future potential rail capacity and eliminating economic benefits of reopening the additional Northern Route. If in the future either of these routes were electrified both these times could drop again to between 40 to 45 minutes. It is assumed that both routes would run through trains to London and other destinations without the need to change trains at Exeter. Direct London Trains, using the Northern Route, would need to add 2.5 minutes for a ‘reversal’ at Exeter station. (1% of the total journey time.)
If the Northern Route is reopened, a west to north junction just north of Cowley Bridge would avoid a reversal in Exeter and save time. Tiverton Parkway or a Cullompton stop would enable a connection to Exeter if needed. Freight could also go this way avoiding the busy level crossing just to the north of Exeter St David’s.
TOURISM IN WEST DEVON
Dartmoor National Park has long been a major tourist attraction. The proposed Northern Dartmoor route would encourage more visitors not only to Dartmoor but also to the other parts of West Devon and North Cornwall.
TRANSPORT SUSTAINABILITY
In order to deliver a sustainable transport system for the future we must invest in an efficient public transport system which provides access to work, education, goods and services, friends and family; and at the same time reduces environmental impacts and traffic congestion.
Many people in Devon and Cornwall are at risk of literally being cut off from work and leisure activities due to the high cost of motoring and poor public transport. We have to
get our £212 per capita rail investment up to a level comparable with the rest of the UK. Trains are essential to Devon’s infrastructure.
TavyRail – RECONNECTING TAVISTOCK
Services would use a reinstated section of railway between Tavistock and Bere Alston, and continue on to Plymouth using the existing rail network. A new station would be constructed at Tavistock, south of the A390 Callington Road.
The restoration of these services would:
- Provide a sustainable link between Tavistock, the largest town in West Devon, and Plymouth, the largest city in the South West Peninsula
- Increase service frequencies to existing rail stations at Bere Alston, St Budeaux (Victoria Road), Keyham and Devonport
- Improve access to Dartmoor National Park, the Tamar Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape World Heritage Site
- Help to reduce traffic congestion and pollution on the A386
- Help tackle the Climate Emergency, by encouraging modal shift from car to rail
- Reduce deprivation in West Devon and Plymouth, by improving access to education, employment and services.
Devon County Council has the aspiration to re-open the railway line between Tavistock and Bere Alston and provide associated multi-use trails in the surrounding area.
Funding for the reinstatement project is, in part, to come from developers through a legal agreement from the planned building of 750 homes off Callington Road in Tavistock, as well as other two planned developments at Butcher Park Hill and New Launceston Road.
Devon County Council has formally submitted the Strategic Outline Business Case to the Government’s Restoring Your Railway programme which sets out the rationale for reopening the line between Bere Alston and Tavistock, seeking £3million to develop the next stage of the business case.
The re-opening of this section of line is due to provide a new, sustainable link between Tavistock and Plymouth for commuter journeys, help to minimise traffic on the A386, link Tavistock to the national rail network and also provide an alternative travel option for leisure, education and retail journeys. The station and track was set to be funded by development planned for Tavistock, but this has yet to happen.
The scheme would reinstate approximately five miles of track and deliver a new single platform station at Tavistock. The station would serve around 21,000 residents of Tavistock, Horrabridge, Lamerton, and Mary Tavy.
An hourly Tavistock-Plymouth service would stop at Bere Alston, Bere Ferrers and the west Plymouth stations. The existing two-hourly service between Plymouth and Gunnislake would be maintained.
HOW TO ADD YOUR VOICE
Write in support of these reopenings to your local councillors and MP:
members.parliament.uk/members/commons
or www.writetothem.com
It’s powerful to write to your MP or councillor in your own words, telling your representative about your own beliefs and experiences and how they relate to rerailing Devon. See below.
Join BRTA as a member to support this and other reopening campaigns
Volunteer with BRTA if you share our vision and want to help bring it about.
Donate to BRTA to help us advocate for Devon rail links fit for the 21st century!
OR Email MP Geoffrey Cox directly
tellgeoffrey@geoffreycox.co.uk
Think about the following questions when composing your letter to MPs / councillors:
- What journeys do you make? Work? Leisure? Appointments / visits?
What could improve the journeys you make? - Do you actively choose road over rail or bus? Why?
- Do you consider where you live to be well served by public transport?
- Do you have experience of new areas of housing and public transport?
- What are your experiences of the road journeys you make in the region?
- Have you made employment, school or relocation decisions based on journey times or access to public transport? Or on the lack of access to public transport?
- What are your thoughts on the environmental impact of your journeys?
- Do you have accessibility needs that affect journey decisions you make?
- What do you think about air pollution in your area?
- What are the most important connectivity-related issues to you? Why? Journey times? Road congestion reduction? Pollution reduction? Accessibility? Taking freight off the roads in your area? A better connected region?
- What should be done next to make relinking happen?
Our tips: - Even if your MP is not in the region, your letter provides them with an opportunity to learn about the issue and take action themselves.
- Aim for your letter to be no longer than one and a half sides of A4.
- Engage. Get your representative’s attention with a dramatic fact or short statement.
- State the problem. Present the causes of the problem you just introduced. How widespread or serious is the problem?
- Inform them about the solutions that rerailing would bring.
- Call to Action. Let them know what you want them to do about it.
- Ask for a response.