Newquay Branch line - engineering work, closures, incidents (merged topics)

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

... and another update from the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) site:

Par to Newquay
Train services between Par and Newquay are suspended due to a landslip and the line is not expected to reopen until Monday 9th February 2009 at the earliest.

 

[Chris from Nailsea]

... and, with news of yet another shift of the proposed re-opening of the line,

Line problem between Par and Newquay.
... Train services are expected to resume from 19:00 on Monday 9th February.
Last Updated: 07/02/2009 19:33

[devon_metro]

Whats the point in running the last service??

[vacman]

Whats the point in running the last service??

I bet you'd moan if it were replaced by a bus!

[devon_metro]

True, although as units are no longer stabled at Par, won't it need to be run from somewhere to get to Par?

[Chris from Nailsea]

Some good news, chaps! 

From the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) site:

Line problem between Par and Newquay.
Train services are now running normally between Par and Newquay.  Engineers have worked as fast as possible to restore services to normal.
There is no Sunday timetable train service, Network Rail have confirmed train services are expected to resume from the start of service on Monday 9th February to the scheduled timetable.
Last Updated: 08/02/2009 16:09

Well done, Network Rail!

[6 OF 2 redundant adjunct of unimatrix 01]

one gold star to n r

[Ollie]

one gold star to n r

Nah just half a gold star due to the amount of times the date got changed.

[Lee]

From the Cornish Guardian:

More users than ever on Newquay branch line

The number of people using the Newquay to Par railway branch line this year has broken all records ^ with three months' usage still to be added to the total before the year is finished.

A total of 63,120 one way tickets were sold this year, smashing the previous record high of 60,832, set in 2004, with three months' figures still to come this year.

Now the Friends of the Atlantic Coastline (FoCAL) would like to see these high numbers of train users result in better funding, facilities and services for those choosing to travel by train.

A delighted Alan Nicholson-Florence, vice chairman of FoCAL, said: "Everyone involved with FoCAL is delighted at the numbers using the branch line.

"In 2004, there were eight trains in action which obviously resulted in the 60,000 using the branch line. But this year we only have seven trains, so to get this high number of users is incredible.

"This can't be anything but good news for the future of the branch line. When we had Lord Adonis here in April, he said about increasing the number of people using the trains in order to try and securing more funding."

The final three months of the year could result in a total of 70,000 people using the branch line for travel.

"With the eco-town to be built, which could see the train line utilised more in Cornwall, this should add more weight to our claims that with more funding and more services the line would be used more," added Alan. If this keeps increasing, Cornwall Council will surely be looking at how, with National Rail and the Regional Development Agency, further improvements can be made on the line.

As part of the eco-town plans an additional train station is planned to be built in Trewoon, and more train tracks installed to create a service between Newquay and St Austell.

[Timmer]

Excellent news which proves that in the main if you run extra services people will use them so well done FGW^▸ (First Great Western) for increasing services on this line.

[caliwag]

This might be posted elsewhere, but

http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/cornishguardian/home/cornishguardiannews/users-Newquay-branch-line/article-1524227-detail/article.html

[vacman]

Excellent news which proves that in the main if you run extra services people will use them so well done FGW^▸ (First Great Western) for increasing services on this line.

which they done without any external funding!

[inspector_blakey]

Thanks caliwag, already posted here:
http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=5703.0

[Bob_Blakey]

And possibly some more good news in that Ryanair have already announced the withdrawal of their services to/from Newquay, and on the local bulletin today Flybe were quoted as saying that the recent increase in Air Passenger Duty has put the future of some of their routes at risk.
Some of the traffic will undoubtedly transfer to rail if flights are reduced, and it wouldn't be just the Newquay branch that benefits.

[Rogang]

The report is very possitive, and I don't want to undermine any of it, but - how many of the additional users are  'locals'?
The recent weekday closure for engineering work saw quite low loadings on the replacement buses, and  the single 153 on the branch can easily cope through the winter. Loadings on the seasonal trains from Paddington/Reading have been higher this year than last I believe, with probably the same on the services from the North. The summer 'extras' will always be there, and the extra local 'all-year' services are obviously working, but I would question if the sucess is as good as some of the other 'rejuvinated' branch lines in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom). I remain, however, firmly in support of local initiatives such as the Atlantic Line, and have great respect for the local action groups.