Everthing's gone very quiet on Evergreen 3. Does anyone know why there is a delay?

The report from July 2009 confirmed the go-ahead for Cranbrook from March 2010:

http://www.thisisdevon.co.uk/news/Business-leaders-welcome-12m-Cranbrook-boost/article-1196879-detail/article.html

Further track enhancements would be a good idea - you could then have an Axminster - St Davids stopping service and accelerate the Waterloo - Exeter services by removing all the stops west of Honiton.

The funding for the new station at Cranbrook east of Exeter was approved by the South West Regional Development Agency last July. Does anyone know the timetable for building this station? Is it being coordinated with the installation of a further passing loop on the Waterloo - Exeter line or will it be a single platform?

With climate change and peak oil, aviation will be on its way out.

During steam days (up to September 1964), there were 5 through weekday services between Waterloo and Exeter, the fastest being the 11am Atlantic Coast Express (2 hours 56 minutes in 1961) with two stops at Salisbury and Sidmouth Junction and through coaches to Plymouth, North Devon and North Cornwall.

The following timings are for the Warship hauled semi-fast services between London and Exeter Central (the Warships replaced the Bulleids on West of England services in September 1964 with the regular interval semi-fasts starting in June 1965 and the line being singled in 1967):

Fastest timings (Waterloo - Exeter Central):

1965: 3h39m (9 stops) by the 1300 from Waterloo
1967: 3h47m (11 stops) by the 0620 from Exeter Central
3h40m (6 stops) by the 1000 Summer Saturdays from Waterloo
1968: 3h23m (8 stops) by the 0910 from Waterloo
3h07m (6 stops) by the 1110 Summer Saturdays from Exeter Central

(Many thanks to the gentlemen who took the trouble to research this information)

By comparison, the new hourly timetable provides 14 through trains a day with a fastest run of 3h15m between Waterloo and Exeter Central (15 intermediate stops), a much better through service for most stations than in steam days.

Thanks.


Perhaps Lord Adonis will announce this along with the Liverpool/Manchester/ Preston electrification details next week. The contractors are certainly expecting something to happen:

http://www.iii.co.uk/investment/detail?type=&code=cotn:JRVS.L&it=le&display=discussion&action=detail&id=5680937

I wonder if the delay has something to do with ATW^▸ (Arriva Trains Wales (former TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company)))'s application to run services from Aberystwyth to Marylebone. The application has still not been closed on the ORR's website and ATW were vehement in their opposition to some aspects of Evergreen 3.