Kernow Connect - a possible new electric Okehampton to Bodmin line

[whole diary]

[alexross42]

I haven't seen this mentioned on the forum and only first learned of it today - more details here - https://www.cornish-times.co.uk/news/cornwall-rail-connection-plans-gain-momentum-with-kernow-connect-scheme-906262
Interesting. It raises many questions!

A useful infographic on the project is attached

[old original]

new electrified railway from Okehampton to Bodmin via Launceston.........

Won't be holding my breath...

https://www.cornish-times.co.uk/news/cornwall-rail-connection-plans-gain-momentum-with-kernow-connect-scheme-906262

[Chris from Nailsea]

With thanks for posting this news almost simultaneously, alexross42 and old original, I've merged your posts here, for clarity and continuity.

CfN^▸ (Chris from Nailsea, an administrator on this forum). 

[eXPassenger]

I am pleased to report that all porcine aviators are fed, watered and ready for action.

[Chris from Nailsea]

Going off at something of a tangent again, I remember this television advert from nearly 20 years ago: from YouTube, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7laPLF5w3Ys (Please bear with the rubbish quality of the images from those days).

CfN^▸ (Chris from Nailsea, an administrator on this forum). 

[eightonedee]

Is this the new Go-op scheme?

[Chris from Nailsea]

Is this the new Go-op scheme?

... cough, splutter ... 

[grahame]

A hundred and fifty years sgo, this was the sort of project that not only got support and investors, but actually reached fruition and came into existence, making perhaps a living - and certainly bringing propsperity to the area served - for around 100 years.  And within my memory, the roads from Exeter through to serve Cornwall have been re-engineered / replaced out of all recognition.  This proposal had me turning back to look at the "Withererd Arm" - the South Western line beyond Exeter, via Okehampton and Launceston to Wadebridge (you could change for Bodmin) and Padstow.

We are not of an age in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) to bring back that railway in that form - it's far too late and so much has moved on. Modern railways take different courses, being far less dependent on the layout of the countryside with massive tunnels and viaducts where previously twisty, turny, incredible routes were engineered to the limits of the day, including an ability to go round corners which take time on fast lines, but an inability to fall amd climb as steeply as passenger lines can do these days.

I do not see a line from Exeter through to North Cornwall opening in my lifetime - but in another 100 years, who knows? Exeter - Okehampton - Lydford - Launceston - midCornwall, with a branch from Lydford to Tavistock and Plymouth? If we were in Spain, France, Germany, Benelux, Turkey, we might already be finding major rail construction to replace or supplement some of the lines with more challenging characteristics. But in our current generation and UK situation, North Cornwall is unlikely.

[RailCornwall]

Work Starts late 2028, opening 2034, based on the equally ludicrous in some people's minds Mid Cornwall Metro. I'd love to see the discussions for the despoiling of sections of Dartmoor and Bodmin Moor. I must admit the idea of a main railway skirting Bodmin to the north, north west and west has never crossed my mind before.

[Noggin]

If you take a look at a map (let alone at the topography), it becomes clear that it would be very complicated indeed to run a railway next to the A30, particularly through places like Launceston where there isn't a clear land corridor.

The more you look, the more it seems like reopening Okehampton to Tavistock (including refurbishment of the Meldon Viaduct) might actually be a reasonably-priced idea in comparison, and electrification from Newbury to Exeter could be positively low-hanging fruit!

[paul7575]

Tacking a GBR^▸ (Great British Railways) logo on the ‘map’ won’t give it legitimacy… 

[GBM]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0m2ner2yvjo

Railway feasibility study 'huge step forward'
A study into whether a multibillion-pound rail link through Cornwall would work has been hailed as a "huge step forward" by campaigners.

They said the proposed line would link Okehampton, in Devon, to Launceston, continuing onto a new station near Bodmin and joining the existing Cornish mainline.

Cornwall Council said it would now look at a more detailed study into the scheme - admitting it had the potential to improve rail resilience and open up the opportunity for more freight trains.

.........snip.............

[Witham Bobby]

I got to the word "multibillion" and immediately thought "not a chance"

Not enough voters in the West Country to unleash "multibillions" from the purse at HM Treasury

[Andy]

There's a report on the project on BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) News Cornwall, with a separate feature on the Bodmin heritage railway's 40th anniversary.

https://www.bbc.com/news/england/cornwall

[GBM]

Andy Bowes Roden also saying it's pie in the sky.

Cornwall Council also looking to take prospective tin and lithium exports via this new line.