Find out more about the vision for a light rail link between Barnstaple and Braunton at a public Railway Exhibition in Ilfracombe on Saturday.

Combe Rail is hosting the event at The Landmark Theatre from 10am-4pm, which will feature a display stand for the proposed TawLink light railway from Barnstaple to Braunton.

Combe Rail trustees will be on hand to chat about the proposal and to answer any questions people might have.

There will also be model railway layouts and information stands from local heritage railways such as the Lynton and Barnstaple plus West Somerset railways.

The TawLink idea would see a rail link from The Strand in Barnstaple to Caen Street in Braunton using light, electronic modern trams.

Combe Rail says it would reduce the unsustainable road congestion between Barnstaple and Braunton by providing a clean, green transport option for local traffic.

The light battery-operated trains would be able to run on the road or modified sections of the Tarka^▸ (Line from Barnstaple to Exeter) Trail and the vision is to get something in place by 2030.

Richard Heacock at Combe Rail said: “We’ve had encouraging discussions with officers of North Devon Council, Devon County Council and the South West Local Enterprise Partnership - all of whom are keen to see the project progress.

“The next step is a ‘pre-feasibility’ study, which will provide a professional and independent assessment of the project’s business case and technical challenges.

“We’ve received proposals and quotes for this study from several leading railway consultants, and have discussed these proposals with NDC. NDC is currently considering adopting TawLink as an official infrastructure aspiration.”

Tarka Rail Association chairman Mike Day has added his support to the project: “We see this as an important step for sustainable public transport; we believe it will bring social, economic and environmental benefits to those who live, work and visit Northern Devon.

“I hope it will also provide a critical link from RMB Chivenor to the wider world, as much as Lympstone Commando Station does on the Avocet^▸ (Branch line from Exeter to Exmouth) line.”

You can find out more about the project at Saturday’s exhibition in Ilfracombe, or visit www.taw-link.org.uk

Thanks.   In the conversation about four positions, of course what we a looking at is analogous to a binary truth table, where Normal and Reverse are the equivalent of 0 and 1.  So two 'mechanisms' each with 2 conditions gives you four results?

N N
N R
R N
R R

...sort of thing?

Paul

Did you manage to find a drawing?  I'm thinking the signalling panel engraved lines means something the way they are drawn, presumably they show the default straight route (i.e. P11 left <> DMR right) with everything set normal?

I had a quick glance at the hardware from a passing train and it looks like these are "clamp lock" operation, does that affect how the pairs are linked/operated?

Paul

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page)

A £2.5bn "mass transit" underground for Bristol has moved a step closer.

Elected mayor Marvin Rees said the city needs a "three dimensional solution" to its transport problems using "underground and over-ground" routes.

The council has commissioned a £50,000 study to determine if it is financially viable.

Mr Rees is also looking to bid for £3m to examine rock samples to look at how the project could work practically.

That money, from the West of England Combined Authority (Weca), would include looking at existing tunnels under the city.

The planned line would connect the city's airport and Temple Meads railway station linking on to the Cribbs Causeway shopping centre.


BBC West political reporter - Robin Markwell

Flagship transport schemes in Bristol are famed for hitting the buffers.

Several failed attempts have been made to revive the trams that were scrapped after the war, but the mayor's big idea of going underground is different.

He believes that some of the city's old tunnels could be brought back to life and Bristol's streets are so crowded that - in some areas - the only way is down.

Mayor Rees is looking to raise much of the two billion from private investment but his critics warn there is no magic money tree and this risks going the same way as the so-called "supertram".

Mr Rees said if the idea proves possible he will go to the government and the world market to find the investment to bring the project to life.

"We can build tunnels under the city, but the question is whether the cost of the tunnel stacks up financially and can we get investors to bring the scheme to life. That's what we're looking at now," the Labour mayor said.

Mayor Marvin Rees says Bristol's transport problems could not be solved with just one project

Asked how this would work with the city's controversial MetroBus project, he said Bristol's transport problems could not be solved with just one scheme.

"It has to be about an integrated transport system, MetroBus is one of the interventions but there are more that are needed to complement that," Mr Rees said.

"We need a mass transit scheme for Bristol, we've known that for decades.

"Some of it will be over ground, some underground - it's about connecting the key communities and economic areas.

"So the airport into the city centre, through Bristol south connecting all the communities to all the employment hot spots, and out to the north fringe as well."

Real Time Trains today shows none turning back at Severn Tunnel Jn

Ah, might be off up there soon. Recommended?