Reopening Cullompton and Wellington stations (merged topic)

[whole diary]

[JayMac]

Just in time for the local elections?

There are neither Borough nor County elections in Taunton Deane or Somerset in 2016.

Taunton Deane Borough Council is up again in 2019. Somerset County Council is 2017.

[TonyK]

Just in time for the local elections?

There are neither Borough nor County elections in Taunton Deane or Somerset in 2016.

Taunton Deane Borough Council is up again in 2019. Somerset County Council is 2017.

Looks like I'm a cynic, then.

[exeterkiwi]

I was wondering if a way of trying to get the line re-open from Okehampton to Exeter as a Regular service  as like stage 1 of trying to get the whole line from Exeter to Plymouth via Okehampton.

1) Okehampton to Exeter St David
2) Okehampton to Axminster
3) Okehampton to Exeter and up to Taunton  to stop at Collumpton, Tiverton and Wellington and back to Exeter and Okehampton

Maybe a Rail service from Okehampton to Axminster with a two hour service at the start.

[grahame]

I was wondering if a way of trying to get the line re-open from Okehampton to Exeter as a Regular service  as like stage 1 of trying to get the whole line from Exeter to Plymouth via Okehampton.

I may be missing something, but I'm not sure how much of a step toward a through service would be made by stepping up the summer Sunday service to a year round one.  Extension from Bere Alston to Tavistock, on the other hand, will / would narrow the gap considerably to about 16 miles.

At the "Border Railway" rate of about 10 million per mile, the final gap is around 160 million to plug - although some quotes have suggested 500 million to 700 million; that probably comes down to whether you're looking at a single line with passing places allowing a service at relatively slow speed every hour, calling at all intermediate stations, or a double tracked main line all the way from Exeter to Plymouth.  In the 'cheap' case, I suggest you're looking at a service with a 158 or equivalent for both Okehampton and Tavistock, replaced by a 10 car IEP^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project.) at times of diversion of passengers for Plymouth via the route.  The pressure then to speed up the train / provide more will be enormous, and I suspect that were it implemented there would be a strong later chance of the planners being accused of only doing half a job, and there being pressure to achieve 3 hours London to Plymouth vis Okehampton.

[exeterkiwi]

I was only suggestion start the rail service from Okehampton to Exeter as a regular service because the track it currently there and it be a good way of building a new rail service for people

[trainbuff]

There is a group already started looking at ways of funding a daily service between Exeter and Okehampton in some guise. Many organisations are in the group including GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway), BARS (the current leasholder), Tarka^▸ (Line from Barnstaple to Exeter) Rail Association, Devon & Cornwall Rail partnership and others. Their first meeting was at the end of last year and they have met again since.
Hopefully a way forward can be found

[ChrisB]

Wonder just what the likely demand is? What's the population of Okehampton?

[trainbuff]

Population is same size currently as Crediton. It has growth planned of 900 houses over the next 10 years increasing its population by 25%
WebTag has been shown to not predict passenger numbers well. Look at the Borders Railway, Airdrie-Bathgate and Ebbw Vale in Wales. These all carried many more people than WebTag predicted by a large margin.

Over 14 days last year the line on four trains had over 3,000 journeys!

Two surveys were carried out in 2012 and 2015 at Okehampton Station, so not complete, asking where people were travelling to. This year permission has been gained to do a survey on the Sunday Rover services

[PhilWakely]

Over 14 days last year the line on four trains had over 3,000 journeys!

Two surveys were carried out in 2012 and 2015 at Okehampton Station, so not complete, asking where people were travelling to. This year permission has been gained to do a survey on the Sunday Rover services

I know that the Sunday service has been extremely well patronised, but, doing a survey on what is currently essentially a tourist service would not give an answer as to whether Okehampton residents who work/shop in Exeter would use the railway to commute to work or to go shopping during the week? Would it not be far more useful to leaflet drop residents?

[ChrisB]

Indeed, also a daily service would allow tourists to spread themselves across the week & thus reduce the current Sunday numbers too

[trainbuff]

Indeed this is very true. However the survey results correspond amazingly well with published Tarka^▸ (Line from Barnstaple to Exeter) Line usage figures.

I agree about the survey not being totally correct. How can it be? However any information that can be used to help create or formulate a business plan has to be used as supporting evidence.

It is certainly better than there being no evidence at all.

My point about the rover last year was there was NOT enough time to talk to everyone by the person doing the survey. Being allowed to travel on the service would at least give the person doing a bit longer to chat etc. There were reports of Guards not being able to get through the train (class 153) due to the volume of people.

Of course this survey does not look at people commuting etc. Though if prices are as those set for say Kings Nympton, similar distance from Exeter, it potentially can get some out of cars onto the trains.

To sum up. In no way do I think the Survey reflects all evaluations needed. But it is a part and that can only help.

Ultimately it will be the BUSINESS CASE put forward that will either win or lose investment. This should be based on as much evidence as possible including the economic benefits to the wider economy.

[DaveHarries]

The picture quoted in reply #80 (page 6 of the thread) is quite different now so I have no idea where that picture came from. I believe the area on the right is now Cullompton services (M5, J28).

Dave

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Wellington Weekly News:

The great railway station debate

The population of Wellington is being urged to get behind a proposed new metro-style station for the town by signing a petition launched at a meeting.

Wellington^s MP^▸ (Member of Parliament) Rebecca Pow invited people to an open meeting at the Alan Rogers Centre at Wellington School and estimated a turnout of about 170.

They heard a panel made up of Ms Pow; Deputy Leader of Taunton Deane Borough Council Mark Edwards; town, district and county councillor Andrew Govier; and Wellington Mayor Janet Lloyd debate the issues.

Ms Pow said people could sign the petition and added: ^The more people we can show who are interested, the more credibility we have in Parliament.^ Support for the station was evident in the room when she asked the audience if they supported the idea and the overwhelming majority put their hands up.

Ms Pow said the idea was for a small stopping station which would cost ^7-10 million, with a similar station at Cullompton ^ the schemes were mutually dependent.

Mark Edwards said timetabling work done after the business case was set out had satisfied Network Rail of the potential. The options were extension of the Cardiff to Exeter network ^ which Ms Pow said Network Rail favoured ^ improvements of the fast line Taunton to Plymouth and a local shuttle service Taunton to Exeter. Basic desktop engineering studies had been done about positioning and the type of platform.

He said: ^It is challenging in Wellington and it is challenging in Cullompton, there are not easy solutions but there are solutions. If we don^t start on the journey we will not complete it and it might take five, it might take ten years, but if we don^t start we definitely won^t get it. A lot of work has been done and an enormous amount of work needs to be done but without people^s support it is clearly not worth doing.^

Mr Govier said there could be considerable benefits to having a railway station. He said comments he had recently made in WWN may have made some think he was against station but they were intended to manage expectations ^ the impression had been given a station could open within a couple of years but that was very unlikely.

He said Swallowfield was next to the railway line and it had to relocate. The directors wanted to move to a site just outside town but the cost was huge and far exceeded the money Swallowfield would get for its land.

He also questioned some of the assumptions about people commuting to Taunton. He said many people used buses and that many would use their cars because of where they worked, with major employers at county hall and Musgrove Park Hospital, and lots of jobs based in the town centre.

He added: ^I think there is a huge issue to prove the business case. When we met people from First Great Western in 2012 they said we would have to provide hundreds of new passengers every day. And we need to address the Swallowfield issue before we spend a large amount of money on a feasibility study.^

Mr Govier was concerned all eggs were being put in one basket as far as the railway was concerned and that bus services were important. It was impossible to get a bus back to Wellington from Taunton after 8pm and he would like to see Taunton Deane look at an integrated transport policy, not just focus on the railway station. He said it would be a lot more convenient for many people to catch a bus than a train.

Janet Lloyd said she agreed with Mr Govier ^to an extent^ about the Swallowfield site and that people on the west and south of town could easily get to Tiverton Parkway and catch trains to destinations all over the country.

It was necessary to attract more people to Wellington and a shuttle-type train could bring them in. She was also concerned about congestion in Wellington and feared it would get worse.

She also questioned how people on the south side of town, like the new Jurston development, would get to the railway station on the north side of town.

[exeterkiwi]

Collompton Railway station news from 15th August

http://www.exeterexpressandecho.co.uk/council-applies-for-support-to-deliver-garden-village-in-cullompton/story-29621642-detail/story.html

Guy

[TonyK]

The Cullompton station plan made the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) local news last night. The piece was about the proposed Culm Garden Village, mentioned by exeterkiwi below. For those unfamiliar with the area, Cullompton lies just west of junction 28 of the M5. Leaving the motorway from the Exeter direction, one immediately crosses the railway, alongside of which lies a service station. This is where Cullompton station once lay. The town itself is a short distance away, although it is spreading, and the nearest new houses, plus a Tesco, are now within a few minutes' stroll. On the other side of the motorway and railway, there are open fields, rather pretty, in fact a true Garden of Eden when compared to the other side. It is here that 5,000 "sustainable" (you have to use that word a lot to get anywhere these days) homes will be built in a parkland setting, if the councils and developers get their way.

I am neutral on this, by the way. More houses are needed, so I am told, and it is very close to Exeter, which gets more congested by the day. Plus, it's about seven miles from me.

Transport will be an obvious issue, and got a mention in last night's programme. The motorway junction will be remodelled, and not before time, but the plan includes a new railway station. At the moment, there is no more detail, but the local council are behind the plan.

It's fair to say that not all of the local locals are behind it, though. Consultation has begun - one chap in the report pointed out that question 1 is "What should we call it?" not "Is it a good idea?"

Until 7pm tonight (8 February) you can see it on iPlayer here. It's second up, at around 3' 302, but the first report about possible changes to Exeter, which seems to have been the trigger for the second report, is also interesting.