DfT sifts 60 new rail plans

[whole diary]

[TonyK]

I'm baffled by "Redouble Oldham Mumps to Grotton Greenfield", given that the line through Oldham Mumps was de-singled when the Metrolink line opened.

[RichardB]

Listing of all bids (all three tranches) here, .pdf mirror here

Code:

Scheme Name,Scheme Region,Ideas Fund Round,,,,
Lynton - Barnstaple Railway,South West,3,,,,
Carn Brea Station,South West,3,,,,
"Barnstaple Branch Line ""Taw Link""",South West,3,,,,
Stonehouse Bristol Road,South West,3,,,,
Marazion Railway Station,South West,3,,,,
Tavistock Okehampton,South West,3,,,,
Bude Okehampton,South West,3,,,,
Saltford Station (Bath & North Somerset),South West,3,,,,
Sharpness Branch Line,South West,3,,,,
Re-instate the Helston Railway Link connecting Helston to the main South West rail line,South West,3,,,,
Wilton Junction Station,South West,3,,,,
To reinstate the Radstock railway,South West,3,,,,
To reinstate the Ashburton and Buckfastleigh Junction Railway,South West,3,,,,
Shepton Mallet to Somerset,South West,3,,,,
Pilning Station Enhancements,South West,3,,,,
Corsham Station,South West,3,,,,
Gravity Site - Bristol to Exeter Mainline Railway,South West,3,,,,
New train service to Bishops Lydeard on the West Somerset Railway.,South West,3,,,,
Extension of the Riviera Line,South West,3,,,,
New station south of Gloucester,South West,3,,,,
Fowey to Lostwithiel,South West,3,,,,
Reopening Brent Station,South West,3,,,,
Tavistock to Plymouth Rail Reinstatement,South West,3,,,,

Going to be fascinating to see what emerges from the final round of bids to the RYR^▸ (Restoring Your Railway) Fund.  Quite something to see the L & B on there!  No disrespect - I'm a big fan and look forward to visiting later this year.

[CyclingSid]

Hayling Branch Line,South East

Presumably with our currant leader that will be a tunnel rather than a bridge.

[ellendune]

Hayling Branch Line,South East

Presumably with our currant leader that will be a tunnel rather than a bridge.

He would support it if it was a garden bridge I am sure!

[Kernow Otter]

Fowey to Lostwithiel proposal is quite interesting. Park, ride and float.

[grahame]

From Island Echo

Island Line could be extended from Sandown to Newport at an initial cost of £67million under initial plans submitted to the Department for Transport by the Isle of Wight Council.

The authority, supported by Island MP^▸ (Member of Parliament) Bob Seely, is seeking government support from the ‘Restoring Your Railway’ programme to further develop the case for reinstating some of the Islands’ lost rail links.

The project will aim to reinstate the disused railway line between the Island Line and Newport, via Blackwater, providing a frequent, fast and reliable railway service from Ryde Pier Head to the Island’s county town – albeit following an indirect route.

The original suggestion was utilising the Isle of Wight Steam Railway track from Smallbrook Junction to Wootton and extending it to Newport, but the business case submitted by the Council now looks at reinstating a railway track from Sandown to Blackwater instead. The plan of utilising the Steam Railway has been ruled out on cost and feasibility grounds.

[Lee]

From Island Echo

Island Line could be extended from Sandown to Newport at an initial cost of £67million under initial plans submitted to the Department for Transport by the Isle of Wight Council.

The authority, supported by Island MP^▸ (Member of Parliament) Bob Seely, is seeking government support from the ‘Restoring Your Railway’ programme to further develop the case for reinstating some of the Islands’ lost rail links.

The project will aim to reinstate the disused railway line between the Island Line and Newport, via Blackwater, providing a frequent, fast and reliable railway service from Ryde Pier Head to the Island’s county town – albeit following an indirect route.

The original suggestion was utilising the Isle of Wight Steam Railway track from Smallbrook Junction to Wootton and extending it to Newport, but the business case submitted by the Council now looks at reinstating a railway track from Sandown to Blackwater instead. The plan of utilising the Steam Railway has been ruled out on cost and feasibility grounds.

Brave move. I construct reasonably ambitious business cases, and I'm not sure I would have had the balls to go for Sandown-Newport once the IOW Railway route had been ruled out (RYR^▸ (Restoring Your Railway)).

Here is a link to the Strategic Outline Business Case - https://iwightinvest.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/RYR-SOBC-Executive-Summary.pdf

I thought that the following quote was of particular interest, as it is one of the first attempts that I have read of a UK^▸ (United Kingdom) public transport business case attempting to measure the long-term impacts of Covid:

Changes in the value for money case through the various combinations of the ‘Economic Catch-Up’ and ‘Sustainable Transformation’ scenarios show that the benefit cost case is strongly affected by the future nature of Island development and policy.

Assumptions about potential long term negative impacts of Covid-19 significantly hamper the economic case.  For comparison, the 3tph Newport via Blackwater scheme with a junction to the south of Sandown sees the BCR^▸ (Benefit Cost Ratio) fall from from between 0.8 and 1.3 under Business as Usual to between 0.4 and 0.6 as future transport markets – and public transport markets in particular – contract

Edit - slight change to sidestep a forum bug! - grahame

[grahame]

Gave me a broken link, Lee - I suspect that it checks where the link is coming from.  Member's mirror - RYR^▸ (Restoring Your Railway) SOBC ((here)) 

EDIT - issue located ... all to do with the expansion of abbreviations and one appearing in the URL.  Link will work now.

[TonyK]

I love the detail in the executive summary, like:

Improving grid stability – the railway would provide a ready on-Island market for excess renewable energy

Yeah, right.

[Andy]

Does anyone have any news about when the announcements concerning the successful bids in the final tranche are to be made? I had understood they were due in September. Any hints picked up as to whether any of the bids in GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) territory are likely to be among the winners?

[Andy]

So...
The 13 successful bids include new stations at Corsham and Stonehouse (Bristol Road), and reinstatement of the Tavistock-Bere Alston line & Tavistock-Plymouth services.

[Rhydgaled]

reinstatement of the Tavistock-Bere Alston line & Tavistock-Plymouth services.

Actual reinstatement or just a feasibility study into possible reinstatement?

[trainbuff]

reinstatement of the Tavistock-Bere Alston line & Tavistock-Plymouth services.

Actual reinstatement or just a feasibility study into possible reinstatement?

Just 'another' feasibility study. But in a different world where rail is seen as a way forward

[bradshaw]

Was there not some Tavistock housing development which had plans for a future railway station?
I seem to recall that it was linked in the planning details

This from 2018
https://www.tavistock-today.co.uk/article.cfm?id=429899&headline=750%20new%20Tavistock%20homes%20plan%20is%20progressing&sectionIs=news&searchyear=2018

[Andy]

reinstatement of the Tavistock-Bere Alston line & Tavistock-Plymouth services.

Actual reinstatement or just a feasibility study into possible reinstatement?

Just another feasilbilty study - £50k towards developing a business case. The associated housing development is also mentioned in the report below.

https://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/news/plymouth-news/tavistock-railway-return-gathers-steam-6142262