North Cornwall Connection Feasibility

This sounds like a good idea - but will it ever happen? 

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.

However, it warned the railway would be unlikely to be in use until the 2040s at the earliest.

David Hill, Smith, a railway engineer who worked on HS1 and an advisor to campaign group Connect North Cornwall, said the "obvious" route for the new railway was alongside the A30 from Okehampton.

"We would keep north of the A30, we wouldn't use the Meldon Viaduct, follow the A30 to Liftondown, and there would be a viaduct across the Tamar," he explained.

He said land at Scarne could be a potential site for a new station.

"It's next to the new development, the industrial and commercial areas of Pennygillam, and the junction of the A30 so it would be an ideal location potentially for a freight terminal," he observed.

Hill-Smith welcomed the council's backing of a feasibility study: "A proper study will add credibility. That will be a huge step forward."

He admitted the whole scheme would cost billions - but extending the route to Bodmin and Truro would make it more economically viable.

Councillor Leigh Frost, the Liberal Democrat leader of Cornwall Council, said it was a project which "had legs" and could allow more freight trains to boost the area's critical minerals industry.

"We can't use freight at the minute to get out of Cornwall on the current line. It's just not suitable.

"If we have that freight line that's running that takes around 129 HGVs off the road.

"We need to work out what barriers or what the opportunities are to deliver that and also how much is it going to cost - then hopefully the government will go this is a project that's worth delivering and we'll invest in that."

However, he cautioned it was unlikely to be delivered until the 2040s at the earliest: "If you don't start that work now, tomorrow doesn't come. You've got to have these plans in place and be ready to jump when the funding becomes available." 

Bodmin Parkway is currently the only station serving the north of Cornwall - with the previous station at Launceston having closed in 1967.

Connect North Cornwall said creating a new electrified line through the town could enable journey times between London and Truro to be cut to two-and-half hours.

Ben Maguire, the Liberal Democrat MP for North Cornwall, said he would be meeting the rail minister, Lord Hendy, to discuss the plan.

"This is a really exciting project. It would massively boost our economy. It's the kind of project on a par with Northern Powerhouse Rail or HS2.

"We have dismal journey times and don't have the capacity to take large quantities of freight. This would avoid the resilience issues that we face at Dawlish," he added.

BBC NEWS

RIP Sir Kenneth

I have never been much of a train spotter but I have always loved the old HSTs so was saddened to see this tweet from @GWRHelp

We are saddened to hear that Sir Kenneth Grange has passed away. A design legend, Sir Kenneth created the look of the iconic High Speed Train. We were honoured to name HST locomotive 43002 after him in 2016. He also joined us in 2019 as the last HST train left Paddington. RIP and thank you Sir Kenneth.

I dont take many train photos – but I have managed a few of these iconic trains.  As GWR say – RIP Sir Kenneth – and thank you.

Plymouth Railway Station Redevelopment

Back in October 2017 The Herald ran a nice little piece on Plymouth Railway Station which included some great photos

North Road Station was given a major makeover in the early 1960s, and, hot on the heels of the Civic Centre opening, which at the time was Plymouth’s tallest building, we had the opening of a second new city ‘skyscraper’ at the railway station

and ended with The HUGE plan for the future of Plymouth Railway Station

Land at and surrounding the railway station has been allocated for a mixed-use regeneration scheme to create a high quality gateway and arrival point to the city and increases the capacity of the station to accommodate increasing numbers of passengers. But it won’t just be a station. There will also be offices, education facilities, commercial, hotel, small-scale retail development, residential and student accommodation.

The Plymouth 'skyscraper' which you probably drive past without realising (its worth a read with some great photos!)

We then move to 8th February 2018 “Eight major Plymouth building projects,and when they are set to begin and finish”

A whopping £205million worth of developments are set to change the face of Plymouth over the next two years – and here is when the city can expect to see things happen.

Plymouth Railway Station – work starts in 2019

The council is pumping £5million from its capital budget towards a £40million overhaul of the North Road station site. The local authority has been working with Great Western Railway, Network Rail and Plymouth City Council on plans which envision the Intercity House office Office block being refurbished – or even knocked down – and escalators carrying passengers right up to North Cross. ““I’m confident we will be on site in 2019.”

Jump to 17th May 2018 and the Herald: Plymouth's Railway Station and the £100 million pound question

It is understood the project is not under threat – with the council having already pledged £5million – but the Government is looking at ways of paying for it and so is pitching it abroad.  The Plymouth project is earmarked for demolition to begin in 2019 with a view to having the huge scheme finished by 2021, the Government says

By the 4th September 2018 it looks like things could be starting:

Demolition to begin in £100m railway station revamp The first significant steps are being taken on the £100million revamp of Plymouth’s railway station with plans to upgrade the concourse and knock down buildings to make way for a new car park. Plymouth City Council’s Cabinet being asked to approve a £26million funding package – when it meets on September 11, 2018 – which will facilitate a phased upgrade to the station concourse and customer facilities.  Cabinet will discuss demolishing the Rail Incident Safety Centre (RISC) building on the east side of the railway station to enable a new multi-storey car park to be built.

Tudor Evans, Leader of Plymouth City Council, said: “This kick-starts a pledge we made to Plymouth in May: that we would deliver a new gateway to Plymouth at the train station with a new entrance overlooking the city, a new car park and more spaces for business and retail.

First images reveal Plymouth's train station of the future (17th September 2018)

Plans to improve the city’s welcome for rail passengers and regenerate the area around the station are moving forward now the council has  given approval for a £26million funding package. Under the first phase of the ambitious regeneration plans, GWR, working with the council and Network Rail, will work on a phased upgrade to the station concourse and customer facilities around it.

• Demolishing the rail incident safety centre (RISC building) on the east side of the railway station to enable a new multi-storey car park to be built.
• By 2021 a new 469-space car park will be built on the site of the RISC building with almost double the capacity of the existing car park.
• Modernised station staff accommodation.
• Public space works including a direct pedestrian link to North Cross and the city centre.
• A new-look entrance off North Cross will also massively improve the pedestrian access to the station.
• Potential for a new hotel and gateway development on the site of the existing car park, which will be demolished once the new one is completed.

Plymouth's multi-million-pound transport plan for roads, rail, cycling and more 2 October 2018

Plymouth is being invited to bid for a share of millions of pounds of Government cash to improve transport. The city council says it can now work up details of a package a measures, including a key part to upgrade Plymouth Railway Station.

The council says being shortlisted means that it will work with partners to work up the detail of the sustainable transport schemes with the Department for Transport and the consortium of partners that developed the bid

BY May 2019 detail is starting to emerge on the tower block itself

Plans to turn ugly train station building into student nursing hub

The University of Plymouth has plans to turn Intercity House, which stands behind Plymouth Railway Station, into a student nursing and midwifery hub.  A pre-planning application submitted to the council states that if the proposal is accepted, the building will become know as Intercity Place and will see a change of use from offices to academic facilities.

"We’ve started a journey to completely transform the station to create a better sense of arrival. With public transport playing a huge role in tackling climate change, this journey is more important than ever.

"MICA’s design transforms the 10-storey station building with a new gleaming bronze anodised, pleated façade that supports a low energy strategy for the high performing academic building.”

We now bring the story right up to date:

Plymouth station tower to become uni block as part of £100m scheme

Plymouth’s towering but dilapidated railway station skyscraper is to be redeveloped and turned into a university campus for training health professionals - also giving the city a new gateway as part of a £100mllion project The redevelopment, masterminded by the University of Plymouth, would make a major difference to one of Plymouth’s key gateways and is part of a much wider plan for the nearby university campus and the railway station concourse and land in between the two.

But most prominent for the city will be the creation of a glazed top floor viewing room, and possibly a “sky café”, which will act as a “beacon” at night for the city. And an illuminated “halo” of LED lighting on the roof will also make the tower stand out at night and act as a landmark for the city.

“Hopefully we will be able to start work in July or August with a soft strip and maybe erect scaffoldings, but work will mainly commence later  this year and complete in February 2021.”

Like with most large scale developments promised / planned in Plymouth, this has been a long time coming but finally its looking like it really is about to start happening soon. What do people think?

© did by graham: Two icons of the Plymouth Railway scene!

London to Plymouth, quite fast

I was doing one of my regular YouTube searches when I came across this great little video. Well I say little, its actually just over twenty minutes and is the window view of a Paddington to Plymouth train, for the whole journey - but speeded up 10 times. A fair bit of it is just a blur but there are some easily recognisable sections including the main stations along the route and of course the Sea Wall at Dawlish.

 

Video uploaded to YouTube by Paul Philpott.

Also you may want to check out another of his videos: a great high speed open top bus tour of Budapest

Junction Jaunt

An invitation from Peter Murnaghan to anyone who is interested in a nice little jaunt on the 14th May:

The curious railway line from Liskeard Station to Looe via Coombe Junction is 115 years old this year. The link line that starts its journey facing north east at Liskeard to turn through 180 degrees to head south west to Coombe Junction, before continuing south to Looe was opened on 15th May 1901. To the design of talented local engineer, Joseph Thomas, this joined the Liskeard and Caradon railway (opened 1846), which continued down to Looe in 1860, with the Great Western main line, which had opened in 1859. Thus, for the first time in more that forty years, rail passengers were able to transfer at Liskeard between the main line and the branch to Looe.

In recent years, the small station at the bottom of the 2 mile incline, Coombe Junction Halt, has been served by just two trains a day, each way, and has frequently languished in the bottom 5 stations in the country, in terms of passenger numbers. Most recently, just 26 passengers used the station in the last year.
On Saturday 14th May, we plan to celebrate the 115th anniversary of the link line opening and, at the same time, offer the rare opportunity to catch a train from one of Britain's least used stations. We will meet at the Looe line platform at Liskeard station for the short (0.8 mile) amble down hill to Coombe Junction. There we will catch one of the few trains that call there, at 10.52, for the 2 mile ride back up the circuitous link line to our starting point.
The cost of the train journey will be be just £2.30 (or £1.50 if you are carrying a Railcard). You will have the rare opportunity to have a ticket from Coombe Junction (a collector's item!). And, if there are enough of us, we might be able to lift this little station out of its position at the bottom of the league table!

Saturday 14^th May 2016

Assemble at Liskeard Station (Looe platform) 10.00 for 10.15

Travellers from Plymouth and the east could, if they wished, return to Plymouth by the very scenic 71 bus along Whitsand Bay and the Torpoint Ferry, after a wait in Liskeard.

©Matt Buck (cc)

Viva la Gunnislake?

I have (quite rightly) been reminded that this blog is supposed to be covering other forms of transport in and around the region as well as just buses. With so much going on over the last few months its been easy to miss other stories that would normally have been covered here. Hopefully now things have quietened down a bit I can start to catch up on a few rail stories.

 

Lets start off with Vivarail.

Who are Vivarail?

Vivarail Ltd. was formed in 2012 to produce a new type of rolling stock designed specifically for local rail services – the D-Train.  Vivarail is headed by Adrian Shooter CBE, previously Chairman of Chiltern Railways, and the development team draws on almost 200 years’ experience in railway engineering and operations. The company is privately funded, in association with an international company that has a successful track record in railway developments worldwide. It is based at a rail-connected site in central England with full manufacturing facilities and a dedicated 4km test track.

The D-Train?

Traffic on Britain’s regional rail routes is growing quickly, but suitable rolling stock is in short supply. Existing diesel trains are fully utilised, and many older vehicles no longer meet passengers’ aspirations. Network-wide electrification can be the solution in the long term, but this will take time – and more capacity and better comfort are needed now.

The answer to this problem is Vivarail’s D-train – a new concept that can supplement or replace existing trains, upgrade services and equip new routes, at a fraction of the cost of buying conventional new rolling stock

The D-train uses the bodyshells, bogies and motors from surplus London Underground District Line trains. The bodyshells are made from corrosion-free aluminium, and will be re-engineered to give additional collision protection. The “flexible frame” bogies – which are specifically designed for lower-quality track – are barely 10 years’ old.

D-Trains are much more than London’s cast-offs. Instead they offer a new concept in sustainable travel for local rail services, with a first-class engineering pedigree.

 

Vivarail aims to begin mainline testing in October with the prototype three-car train, initially on the Moreton-in-Marsh - Honeybourne section of the Oxford - Worcester line, which passes the company's Long Marston base. A passenger trial with a franchised train operator will take place early next year.

So what has this got to do with us?

Well there was an interesting letter on the Cornwall Railway Society Web Site:

“"GROCKLE TRAIN Testing in passenger service [of the 3-car Class 230 demonstrator train] will 'follow in the new year'. While Adrian Shooter would not be drawn on the location of the test service, informed sources expect it will be on First Great Western [sic] under the requirement in the Direct Award franchise agreement.  Bristol-Severn Beach had been suggested as the evaluation route but FGW has settled on the Plymouth-Gunnislake branch with the unit based and maintained at Laira depot.. This is the logical choice since the Gunnislake branch will be more demanding operationally."

All very interesting!

It remains to be seen if it does indeed end up being tested down here. Its certainly a very interesting project so lets hope it gets through all its testing unscathed and the project starts to become a reality.

What do people think?