Great Western Coffee Shop

what do you think about a campaign for re-opening various railway lines in the south west.

They seem to be re-opening in Wales and Scotlna d. why not here


Tarka Line from Yeoford to Okehampton

North Somerset Railway Bristol to Radstock

Extend the Tarka Line from Branstable to Bideford

Newton Abbot - Moretonhampstead

New Station on Main line from Taunton to Plymouth

Wellington Cullompton Plympton

Improve station Facilities at

Saltash

Pinhoe

Provide Funding improvements for the Avocet Line Improvements

Build new Lines

Burngullow to St Dennis Junction

Highbridge and Burnham to Wells via Glastonbury

Bath to Bournemouth

Sidmouth to  Feniton

Okehampton - Bude

Launceston to Lydford

Chard Junction - Chard Town ^ Taunton

Okehampton - Tavistock - Bere Alston Route or the Newton Abbot ^ Moretonhampstead- Exeter on Teign valley route

With Most thing it comes to a head  count, the population figures come from 2001 census

Sidmouth has a pop about 14,400

Ottery St. Mary about 7,692 may more now

Newton Poppleford around 2000

On a different line Exeter to Plymouth Via Okehampton

Okehampton around 5,846

Okehampton to Bude Line

Bude 9,242

Launceston to Tavistock  (Launceston and South Devon Railway track bed)

Launceston 7,135
Tavistock 11,018

or you could use the other track bed Launceston to Okehampton (LSWR)

Extention of traka Line from  Barnstable to Bideford

Bideford 14,599

could try to extend it to Great Torrington

lfracombe Branch Line

Ilfracombe 10,840


Collumpton population 7,609

wellington population    13,696

Part os the old e Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway

Glastonbury    8,800
Shepton Malle    8,981
wells 10,406
Radstock  5,275
etc


Guy

 Unfortunately I cannot see any of the current operaters taking any initiative.
 
 Struggle to manage with the lines they've got.

Highbridge to wells via glastonbury would be a reopening of the S&D thogh there may be a few problems with the highbridge end of the old route ( New flats) and there are a few new roads in the way as well..

What about the strawberry line  - Yatton to Wells as a lot of this is a cycle path!!!!

Have you had any contact with the following people, Guy? - http://www.somersetanddorsetrailway.co.uk/

Thanks for the link

Guy

first one is happening not long now

Yes, but a lot of it isn't!  For example, through Axbridge, a hefty chunk of the trackbed is now occupied by the A371, and subsequent housing developments there, and at Cheddar and Rodney Stoke, would make any reopening very unlikely.  ::)

In addition to your campaign to re-open lines, may I suggest you start a campaign to ensure the likes of Pacers and Sprinters are not scrapped in the near future as they would be essential to sourcing stock for such re-openings as apart from being old, there is nothing wrong with them with the right amount of TLC and used on appropriate routes

as far as the sidmouth budleigh exmouth goes, thats a compilicated ask! the exmouth end for a start has been built on alot as has budleigh its also worth pointing out that the line didnt actually run direct from sidmouth to exmouth but split at tipton st john,sidmouth effectivly being a mini branch off, there is not really any point in reinstalling the line further past tipton towards exmouth as budleigh has a low population and exmouth is already served by train,however i do belive that the sidmouth branch with a station at ottery st mary along with a new station at broadclyst and passingloop at whimple would benifit alot of people,anyone wishing to travel to exmouth from sidmouth could change at exeter central... its still going to be cheeper and faster than the bus if timed correctly

Bristol to Radstock would be brill would save the car journey and also mean a hour + on a bus isnt needed only issue is 2 double roundabouts where the A362 and A367 meet

Hmm. I'm sorry to dampen your enthusiasm, matt_splatt, but I don't think reopening Bristol to Radstock is possible, never mind likely.

I assume, by the way, you're referring to the Chelwood Bridge junction of the A368 and the A37 as 'the' major obstacle?  I remember when it was indeed 'a bridge', over the old trackbed - but that was many years ago, before most of the track was sold off and returned to farmland, when the bridge was removed and the roads re-contoured.

Apart from that, you can't even trace some of the old trackbed out of Bristol any more: a lot of it has been built on, through Brislington, Stockwood and Whitchurch, for example.

While the line certainly has some merit, I'm afraid it's a lost opportunity for reopening. :(

That may be the only issue at the Radstock end, but I fancy re-opening the line at the Bristol end will be a little more problematical. Whitchurch, Hengrove, Brislington, St Philips have all been heavily developed since the line closed.

Far easier to reopen the line from Frome to Radstock. Freight line already in place as far as the junction for Whatley Quarry, remaining trackbed almost completely intact.

I may of used the population numbers to much, I know we are not going to get the same number as some other parts of the country.