It is my belief that, as part of the 'Resilience Programme' announcements that we will see enough railway reinstated to enable at least hourly SWT^▸ (South West Trains) & FGW^▸ (First Great Western) services to run Exeter-Yeovil during times of disruption or engineering. There is also a wish for half-hourly services Exeter-Axminster to operate which will also require additional redoubling.

There is an announcement being made in December regarding investments in road (A30/A303/A358) and SW railways. Not privy to its contents however!

Believe the incident actually was  at Crannaford AHB rather than Feniton. BT Police etc called to remove car and (so I hear) the occupant. Possibly a fortunate escape for you.

I did comment on this story under the original article as I couldn't understand what was being said either!:-


"I am confused by this article. Sherborne Station already has an hourly service - more frequent at peak times. Generally, but not always, there is adequate seating space. The mention of 'Wessex by the hour' possibly indicates a reference to the Bristol to Weymouth line (through Yeovil Pen Mill) which certainly would benefit from an upgrade. This is only likely to happen when rolling stock becomes available from the electrification of lines around London Paddington."

8. Yeovil Junction - spend far too much time on the other platform.....

Grahame is spot on! Much depends on the level of engineering and the type of train (local/non-stop etc) you are dealing with!

Delving back in time a 'Warship' Class diesel took an Ian Allan excursion back from Plymouth to London Waterloo in 1966. Including a brief (unexpected) stop at Keyham, a long crawl over Meldon Viaduct (15mph) and at Coleford Junction (15mph) and Cowley Bridge (5mph) time to Exeter St Davids (pass) was 1hr 22m approx. Non-stop to Waterloo occupied another 2hr 32m although some other speed restrictions were encountered.

Net times from Plymouth to Waterloo quoted as 3hr 38m and Exeter Central to Waterloo as 2hr 23m. So Plymouth to Exeter St Davids would be 1hr 13m approx. Not a vast amount of difference to that being experienced at that time on the route via Newton Abbot - the down part of the same excursion (behind a more powerful 'Western' diesel) took 59m or so between Exeter and Plymouth (pass to pass).

Just to add my comments. I would agree with a previous thought that:-

a) Exeter-Okehampton-Plymouth to be re-opened as an alternative route for local services (also opening up new opportunities for West Devon/North Cornwall residents). This line can also be used when the existing route is closed (weather/engineering/incidents). No, it won't be as fast as the existing line but does keep passengers and freight from Plymouth and Cornwall on trains.

b) Safeguard a chosen alignment for a Dawlish avoiding line from development but do not actually construct it. I cannot see the sense of building a line that MAY not be required in the short or medium term! I doubt that the existing line would survive the construction of an avoiding line - simply a duplication. In any event the seawall at Dawlish needs to be maintained. By safeguarding a chosen route you keep the options open without incurring much of the expenditure.

c) Only by re-opening the Okehampton route will an independent line (apart from short stretches at either end) to Plymouth/Cornwall be achieved. Any Dawlish avoiding line will not do this. What we don't know is whether the recent violent storms will repeat regularly or infrequently. Some comparison must be possible with the success of the Settle and Carlisle Railway and the re-opening of the Borders Railway both of which run through sparsely populated countryside.

From South West Trains website:-

26 February 2014

NEW COACH-RAIL SERVICES TO HELP STORM-HIT COMMUNITIES IN SOUTH WEST OF ENGLAND



Innovative transport service to provide fares from ^1 to Devon and Cornwall
Capacity on coach services between London and Plymouth increased by 50%
Boost follows discounted bus fares to help people hit by Dawlish rail closure
megabus.com national coach network keeps Britain moving during storms
 

New coach-rail services are set to be launched to help storm-hit communities in the south-west of England, Stagecoach Group announced today (26 February 2014).

The integrated service will provide a seamless link between London and the West Country using a combination of South West Trains rail services and megabus.com coaches.

It will provide significant extra public transport capacity to keep communities in Devon and Cornwall connected while one of the main railway lines is closed following the collapse of the sea wall and damage to the track at Dawlish.

The new services will use a rail hub at Honiton providing onward coach connections to a number of destinations in the south-west.

From Honiton there will be four routes: Cullompton-Tiverton-Barnstaple; Newton Abbot- Torquay-Paignton-Totnes-Plymouth; Launceston-Bodmin-St Austell-Truro-Penzance; and Okehampton-Bude.

The coach-rail services will operate Mondays to Fridays. On Saturdays and Sundays, there will be one departure in each direction on the Plymouth and Barnstaple routes only.

A fleet of five double-decker coaches will be used for the operation, offering 4,000 seats a week. Prices will start from ^1 (plus 50p booking fee) and most passengers will pay less than ^28, with the network offering journeys of up to around 300 miles.

Seats can be booked from tomorrow (27 February 2014) online at www.megabus.com and services will start running on Monday 3 March.

Stagecoach also confirmed that it has increased capacity on its megabus.com services to Cornwall by 50% from around 400 seats a day to nearly 600.

Megabus.com provides around 70,000 coach seats a week to more than 60 destinations in England, Scotland and Wales. The company is continuing to monitor demand and will add further capacity if needed.

The transport boost comes after Stagecoach confirmed a package of measures on its local bus network in the south-west to deliver discounted fares on key routes in Devon.

Martin Griffiths, Stagecoach Group Chief Executive, said: ^This is an incredibly difficult time for people in communities in many parts of the south and south-west of England. Daily life is a real struggle for families in the areas worst hit by the severe weather.

^We appreciate that transport is absolutely vital. Despite the tough conditions, our megabus.com coach network is continuing to run a full service and more than 90% of our South West Trains rail network is open.

^Joining these networks up means we can provide the affordable transport options people need in these tough times. The priority is for everyone across the public transport sector to really pull together to keep Britain moving and make sure communities across the country remain open for business.^

Stagecoach, Britain^s biggest bus and coach operator, took part in a transport resilience meeting with Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin earlier this month. Representatives from the bus and coach industry reassured the Secretary of State that the sector was well placed to keep the country moving and provide extra capacity during the severe weather.

Earlier this month, Stagecoach, which operates around 330 buses across the south-west of England, announced discounts on single and return fares on key routes in Devon of up to 50%. The company has extended the travel zones covered by its multi-journey tickets to include areas affected by rail disruption. Stagecoach also confirmed that it is accepting First Great Western rail tickets on its bus journeys between Dawlish and Teignmouth while rail services remain disrupted.

ENDS

Yeovil Pen Mill - if the plan had simply been for a recontrol elsewhere then I agree that no consultation would have been necessary. However there was a significant simplification of the track and implications for the various TOCs^▸ (Train Operating Company) so this would have required their input/agreement.

I am not at all sure that anything has been decided as yet - the latest thought is that when Westbury Powerbox goes so will Yeovil Pen Mill signalbox - although to which Centre is not yet known! It may well be around for a bit longer than 2016 with a bit of TLC^▸ (three letter code )....

Yeovil Pen Mill Signalbox - There was a plan to simplify the area and close the signalbox. However the plan would have caused significant difficulties to the operators and has not been proceeded to formal consultation as far as I know. My understanding is that it is likely that the box will be life-extended until replacement of Westbury powerbox and it will then form part of a bigger scheme. The costs involved were (as you might imagine) very substantial for little savings.

This is still awaiting confirmation!

The practicalities of conversion from third rail to overheads are very considerable (and expensive). I understand that it is not really possible to have both systems on the same line (except presumably where changeovers are to be made) as the currents will interfere with each other.

So, if the line from Basingstoke to Southampton (freight spine) is re-electrified on overheads, SWT^▸ (South West Trains) will require either new stock or changes to existing stock to enable them to continue to operate! Third Rail Waterloo-Basingstoke, Overheads Basingstoke-Southampton and Third Rail onwards. I also suspect that to make the changeover every train would have to stop at Basingstoke & Southampton (that would annoy passengers). I read that SWT have already raised concerns.

The disruption and costs of replacing Third Rail round Waterloo are beyond my imagination so I think this discussion has a very long way to run as to the best way forward.

An article in Western Daily Press on plans (not much detail!) to reduce effects of future flooding.

http://www.westerndailypress.co.uk/Plans-drawn-end-rail-disruption-caused-floods/story-19131228-detail/story.html

Not entirely sure why people have such hang-ups regarding reversals. The use of units (of one sort or another) is standard fare and the extra time taken in reversing a train is not great. Excursions, Sleeper trains and Freight are obvious exceptions. Exeter St Davids has interchange facilities whereas Central would require significant upgrading if the former station was to be omitted in a regular calling pattern.

The Axe Valley itself does flood but in the past has tended not to disrupt the railway often. Hopefully the recent works around Broom Crossing will prevent a repeat of the washouts. There have been plenty of landslips however.

Maybe the railway around Cowley Bridge will have to be raised above/around the flood plain if repeated problems occur! And yes, reopen via Okehampton as it is only a matter of time before the seawall is blocked big time.

From South West Trains website - getting organised!

Advanced warning of possible service disruption Monday 21/11/11 Due to a derailed freight train in a engineers work site.. between Exeter St David - Exeter Central SWT^▸ (South West Trains) Services will be subject to alterations... 4 Buses have been arranged to operate a rail shuttle should they be required. Further updates will follow once more is known. Message Received :20/11/2011 21:31

An excellent question!

Maybe somewhere to raise this would be:-
http://twitter.com/#!/NRE_FirstGW

Good to use these new fangled ideas!

SWT^▸ (South West Trains) are running an hourly service (albeit one is out of the normal regular interval) with FGW^▸ (First Great Western) operating a service every 2 hours (or so). The insertion of the Yeovil Junction stops is down to a confusion between the various parties I understand. SWT always thought stops were being made and FGW didnt! Interesting that one train is being looped and then passed by two trains following each other in the opposite direction at times! I dont think many more trains would be fitted in somehow!

With regard to the Axminster loop I believe that the a forthcoming resignalling will provide greater capacity on the line and then we may see the reason for the provision of so much signalling!