Celebrating 50 years of the Tamar Valley Line

Richard Burningham, Manager of The Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership has been in touch with details of a special series of events this coming weekend that some of you may be interested in…

A weekend of special events will kick off on Friday 1 June, with a  cake being cut on the 10 54 train from Plymouth to Gunnislake as it crosses Calstock Viaduct to mark the 110^th anniversary of the Viaduct and the railway between Bere Alston and Gunnislake opening.

The cake will be cut by Gunnislake and Calstock’s Cornwall Councillor Dorothy Kirk and Calstock Rubber Band will also be playing on the train.  Pieces of cake will then be handed to passengers.  The Rubber Band will also play on their journey into Plymouth on the 09 29 train from Gunnislake.

On Saturday 2 June, Les Deering, Tamar Valley Heritage Guide, will be leading a railway-themed walk, organised by the Tamar Valley AONB.  The walk will start at 11 40 from Calstock station, to coincide with arrival of the train from Plymouth at 11 32 and will finish in time to catch the 13 56 back to Plymouth. It will be around Calstock, focussing on the railway, history of the viaduct and East Cornwall Mineral Line.

Booking is essential, by calling 01822 835030 or e-mailing enquiries@tamarvalley.org.uk

Vintage bus trip – There will be a vintage bus trip from Gunnislake station to Okehampton station on Saturday 2 June, connecting with the 10 59 train from Plymouth and returning to Gunnislake and Calstock in time to get the 17 27 from Gunnislake and 17 39 from Calstock to Plymouth (arrive at 18 12).  The bus will stop in Brentor and Lydford and will pass the old stations at Brentor and Bridestowe.  There will be two hours in Okehampton and the Dartmoor Railway Supporters Association are running trains between there and Meldon.  The trip will allow a return train trip to be taken (cost of this train £5 adult).   The bus is a vintage single decker 1979 Western National Bristol LH, part of the WHOTT fleet   http://www.busmuseum.org.uk/

There is no cost for the bus trip itself.   There are a very limited number of seats available and booking is essential – please e-mail railpart@plymouth.ac.uk to book and mention if you will be taking the train to Gunnislake to connect with the bus.  Initially bookings will only be accepted from people who will be taking the train to Gunnislake to connect with the bus but, for those who will not be taking the train to Gunnislake, remaining seats after Wednesday lunchtime will be available to you.   Please book now and any seats will be allocated based on when your e-mail arrived.

More details along with a short history of the line  can be found here: http://www.dcrp.org.uk/celebrating-50-years-of-the-tamar-valley-line/

Time is short and seats are limited so if you want to join in please contact them as soon as possible!

Tamar Valley Take Off

THE TAMAR Valley Train line is one of the fastest growing branch lines in Britain.
New figures published by the Association of Train operating Companies (ATOC) state that the Plymouth to Gunnislake and the Liskeard to Looe, Looe Valley lines have seen increases of more than 20 per cent.
Passengers made 169,388 journeys on the Tamar Valley Line between April 2010 and March 2011, an increase of 21.8 per cent over the same period in 2007 and 2008. This gave the line ninth place in the branch line league table. On the Looe Valley Line, 95,446 journeys were made between April 2010 and March 2011, an increase of 23.8 per cent over 2007 and 2008, ranking the line eighth in the table.
This is Plymouth

[cc] Sou'Wester March 1986

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• Sou'Wester Flickr

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New Improved Service

This week sees the start of the new timetable for the Tamar Valley Line which runs between Plymouth, Bere Alston and Gunnislake. An extra daily train has been provided giving a service almost every two hours without the gaps that existed before. Apparently this is the best ever service provided on this line since May 1968 when the Tavistock section was closed.

Car Free Days Out

Walkers are being put on track with a new pack promoting local trails near Tamar Valley train stations.The Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership has launched the free pack, which contains five circular walks, all of which start and end at stations on the Gunnislake branch line
tist Ian Pethers, of Glenrock Studios, Drakewalls, provided maps and illustrations. Get the pack, Trails from the Track, from local tourist information centres or from the Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership on 01752 233094 or at www.carfreedays out.com

Tamar Valley Line ECT

Rail campaigners are considering running a pilot project to provide new services on the Tamar Valley line and the Looe branch line.The ECT Group, which runs community railways in Dartmoor and Yorkshire, is considering forming a new rail operator - Devon and Cornwall Railways - to run trains on the lines.
"We propose development of new commercial activities to increase income and attract more passengers, including premium services such as 'wine and dine' trains, special events such as steam weekends and Santa Specials, and by investing in better facilities at stations such as visitor centres, cafes and bars, gift shops, picnic areas and complementary cycle and walking routes."
Sounds interesting - lets wait and see if anything comes of this bold idea

Landslide

It seems that the land slide that caused us problems on Sunday was a bigger problem than was first thought.
This is Plymouth: 11:50 - 19 June 2006
A landslide in South East Cornwall has covered rail tracks and halted train travel to Plymouth.About 100 tonnes of earth slipped on to the tracks between Bere Alston and Bere Ferrers at about 11.30am yesterday.Trains on the branch line between Gunnislake and Plymouth are not running and buses are being provided for travellers.The landslide, which Network Rail describe as a 'serious landslip', was reported to the rail service providers by track control staff.Network Rail have said ground engineers are at the site assessing how unstable the area is and when the line will be back in use.A spokesperson for Network Rail said trains would not be back in service for at least six days.A First Great Western spokesperson said: "The lines will be closed for a week while the tracks are cleared."We are working hard to ensure that our customers are inconvenienced as little as possible, which is why we put buses into service immediately. They will be running all week."

When is the next train?

Well we started off with good intentions of exploring the Tamar Valley Line today but all did not go to plan!
We decided against the Dartmoor Explorer ticket as we didnt think our son was up to long bus journeys just yet. Instead we purchased standard return tickets from St Budeaux Station to Gunnislake which came to just under £7 for three adults and gave us unlimited travel on the line between these two points. The Dartmoor ticker would have worked out at £15 - itself a bargain!

We got off at Bere Alston first and had a walk about for about 40 mins and then caught the return train to Bere ferrers where we decided on a longer break of about an hour. Long walk down into the village and a quick picnic by the river and then the long walk up the hill. After waiting a good ten mins past the time the train was due someone phoned through and was told the train had been cancelled due to a small land slip on the line. The train had returned to Plymouth. We were promised a taxi would be dispatched - but up to an hours wait. There are no toilets at Bere Ferrers station! After a while searching a local was found who allowed the ladies to use their facillities. then after almost exactly one hour the taxi arrived and 5 of us set of the Calstock.
A good few hours were spent at Calstock including an excellent Fathers Day pub lunch. Quite a bit of exploring and many photos taken. Then the long walk up the hill to see if the trains were running again.
We tried the message point and got a really confusing message to say that the the 16:18 train to Plymouth had been cancelled. The next train at Calstock would be the 16:18 train to Plymouth! I have recorded the message which you can here on the link below.
Click here to hear the message 'Train-Message' [Link no longer works!]
Just after 16:20 a taxi arrived to pick up Plymouth passengers - there were about 8 of us. He then said he would pick us up from down the path - when a bus arrived and said he was picking us up instead. Confusion all round for a few mins but we all piled into the bus and set off on the long journey home - via all stations on route - but picking up no more passengers. The driver wasnt really sure of the way but didn't get lost although it was a real squeeze with his big Mercedes 'bread van' down some very narrow country lanes - he managed some impressive reversing when we met some large tractors in small spaces.
We arrived back about an hour behind schedule and my son managed brilliantly and really enjoyed the bus journey - he was very disappointed not to get another train ride though.
Great day out for £7! Must have cost the train company a lot more than that though.

Gunnislake

Thanks to a friend of ours pointing out that Wessex Trains on the Tamar Valley Line have a special fares promotion on at the moment we decided to have another railway day out.

"The Great Westcountry Branch Line Offer will run on Saturdays and Sundays during January and February. In each case the Line Ranger is reduced to £1 (£3 on the ‘Tarka Line’ to Barnstaple), giving the freedom to travel all day long. There is so much to see and do: shopping, visit friends, explore new places, or simply sit back and enjoy stunning scenery that can only be seen from the train."

The fare for the whole day was £1 which gave unlimited travel all day on the line. Excellent value! We only had time for one trip out and back and it was my sons first trip of any length on a train so we kept it nice and easy. Picture above is my son Zak and the train we had just caught sitting at Gunnislake Station. Zak really enjoyed it but he does have difficulty seeing anything out of the window as he is too small! A passenger did lend him a cusion for part for the journey and the rest of it was sat on my rolled up coat so at least he saw some of the outstanding views from the train.

© Copyright Simon Lewis from West Country Views great selection of free photos to download.

If you ever get the chance to try this line then it is highly recommended. The views of most of the journey are stunning. The very last bit from Calstock to Gunnislake is taken very slowly as it winds up a quite steep hillside and has to stop to cross a roads. No real views a such but it is still an interesting section. We will certainly be taking advantage of the promotion again as it runs until the last weekend in February. Next time we will stop at Bere Ferrers or Bere Alston and have a go on one of the many walks being promoted locally.
didbygraham

Gunnislake Branch Line Threat?

The picture above shows the point where the Tamar Valley branch Line passes under the main line as it crosses the River Tamar on the magnificent Royal Albert Bridge. This line is one of the most beautiful branch lines in the country and very popular. It was saved from the Beeching Axe in the 1960s because Gunnislake in particular is not well served by good roads so it was deemed necessary to keep the train service.

Some of the history of this line as part of the Callington Branch can be foun on the Train web site, which is well worth a visit to explore more of the hsitory of rail services in this area.

Well today this is Plymouth reports that:

Rural train services in the area could be scrapped by the Government, it has been revealed. In a statement in Parliament, the Department for Transport has revealed that dozens of branch lines and secondary routes could shut.The proposed moves were found within an 83-page document issued alongside a statement by Transport Secretary Alistair Darling. They would be the biggest overhaul of the network since the Beeching report in the 1960s, which led to the closure of 4,000 miles of railway and nearly half the nation's stations.Loss-making services would be transferred onto buses, as a means of reducing the £6bn-a-year subsidy, the document states.Mr Darling's statement, along with the 83-page consultation paper, entitled: 'Consultation on the Implementation of the Railways Act 2005,was designed to set the scene for future rail cuts.

This seems to be preparing the way to cut even more rural rail services just like the Tamar Valley Line. For a government that pretends to be in favour of public transport this is a great way of showing their true colours. I am sure that this story will grow and a lot more will come out in the days ahead. I will certainly be having a good read of this document myself.

In the meantime a photo from Cyberheritage of happier days at Calstock.


For pictures of modern day Calstock Station and others on the branch then visit this page.
didbygraham