Barnstaple ('Tarka') Line - services, facilities, events and incidents (merged posts)

[whole diary]

[grahame]

... One of the things we were all worried about at the time was that the operator of the Paddington main line would concentrate on that and the London suburban services and largely ignore the branch and local services away from London.  Our fears were unfounded.

We were indeed very worried.

I am delighted that your fears in Devon and Cornwall were unfounded.  Watching and getting involved form the tail end of the 2005 consultation which merged three franchises, I saw some really significant cutbacks specified across the old "Wessex" area. In Devon and Cornwall, virtually all of the proposed dropped services and intermediate station calls were re-instated before the cuts ever happened, and that is (in my view) largely due to the county councils, and the community via the strong voice of Community Rail putting up a good and common case, and I believe some money too,  to maintain the services at an appropriate level.  Full credit is due to all three legs - rail industry, local government and community working together with a common aim.

I'm afraid the story up here in with some of the Bristol based services was different. And some of the worries proved to be justified. The December 2006 timetable change brought a slashing back of services and capacity from Severn Tunnel Junction to Melksham, and from Keynsham to the Solent area.  Trains were stored in lines at Eastleigh, while people squeezed onto remaining services, suffered long gaps between trains, and indeed moved away from using rail at all.   I have to admit, looking back, that much of the problem was probably that we didn't have the degree of co-ordination between local government, the community and the rail industry in the area, so there was not a common consensus to keep an appropriate service level.

So much has changed in the past decade, and I will stress that FGW^▸ (First Great Western) / GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) has changed too - perhaps because (belatedly) there are now combined / co-ordinated voices which, surely, are a blessing to the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) - if everyone asks for broadly the same thing, and it fits policy, it's the natural way to go.   But we still have ways to go to get back to pre-FGW days.   First Melksham to Swindon train was 05:52 - now it's 07:19. Last Swindon to Melksham train was 22:12 - now it's 20:08.  Sure, there are more trains - usefully - in between but up here in Wiltshire, our local trains and regional expresses from Cardiff to Portsmouth were cut back and we still have work to do.

To summarise - huge admiration for Devon and Cornwall; you did an excellent job when the franchise map was redrawn, whereas up here we were, frankly, ineffective.

[RichardB]

Thanks Graham. I should have said that our fears turned out to be unfounded.  As you outline, the whole story of the franchise competition and award in 2006 is a different picture, of course, and we in the far South West suffered with the Bristol area and yourselves too.  Frankly, we were all lied to back then, sadly, and not by the railway.  The timetable given to bidders was strictly secret and when FGW^▸ (First Great Western)/GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) were awarded the new, larger franchise in December 05, they made the very sensible decision in February 06 to tell us what the franchised service would be, starting that December, and launch a consultation.

The balloon went up and all hell let loose as the cuts became apparent.  Community Rail - and particularly support for Community Rail being a Government policy - was key here as the small Community Rail team at the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) were very helpful and did a lot of liaison with their colleagues in the franchising side.  What was also key was the formation of new public groups to campaign against the cuts.  The ones in Devon & Cornwall are all still going and have achieved a massive amount over the years - the Avocet^▸ (Branch line from Exeter to Exmouth) Line Rail Users' Group, Saltash Rail Users' Group and St Germans Rail Users' Group (which has recently expanded to cover buses too). 

I think what you say about co-ordination between local authorities, the railway and the community is right, Graham, because the core of it in Devon and Cornwall was already then well and pretty long established.

Another factor here is that we also had the very experienced and always helpful Julian Crow as our key liaison with FGW.  After many (but not all) of the cuts had been reversed, Julian worked with me and the local authorities to not just restore the rest of the cuts, as far as possible, but to further improve the service using whatever grant funding that could be obtained and also looking at what was in the franchise and seeing if it could be better used.

One great example of this was on the Gunnislake and Newquay lines.  As I remember, under the franchise, the peak commuter Tamar Valley train (08 17 or so at Plymouth) carried on to Par and then formed the Newquay service, returning to Plymouth in time to make the afternoon peak Tamar Valley Line service (16 30ish ex Plymouth).  FGW had a good hard look at this and proposed splitting the two branch line services, not running the linking trains (which ran close to other main line services) and using the savings to improve the service on both branches.  Cornwall, we and others had to agree to the franchise change - which really was a no brainer and the changes came in in December 2008.  We promoted them heavily e.g. they meant the best ever service to Calstock & Gunnislake.  Julian was a key, key part of this. 

Of course the franchise change also meant (as part of the contract) that a lot of stock left the franchise (I'm afraid I think we can put part of that down to the First Group bid team) and, as was quickly found, there wasn't enough left to cope with demand or even reliably run the timetable.  You mention the stock stored at Eastleigh, Graham.  It was a terrible time performance-wise and FGW soon started negotiating to bring more rolling stock in. Performance only really got radically better when Andrew Haines took over at FGW in late 2007/early 2008.  One of his early key appointments was Mark Hopwood as Operations Director.

On other issues, FGW were great throughout - all of our arrangements with Wessex Trains e.g. Carnets, Looe ticket office etc were simply rolled over and FGW were always very supportive. 

It could have all been very different and I'm really pleased it wasn't.   Of course, the one service cut that wasn't all or even partially reversed was the Melksham service and without your campaigning, Graham, and those of your colleagues in the area over the intervening years, the service could very well still be where it was.

[Apedlar12]

Yes, that is what is going to happen but, Apedlar12, scroll back on this thread to see why it's not going to be very soon.

Yes, thanks more likely December then at this rate... I see you did mention something about changing the train at St Davids so that the Barnstaple section would receive the 158s and then the Exmouth and Paignton end would be 143/150. I guess if this did happen, it may happen before the 158s turn up full time?

[RichardB]

Yes, that is what is going to happen but, Apedlar12, scroll back on this thread to see why it's not going to be very soon.

Yes, thanks more likely December then at this rate... I see you did mention something about changing the train at St Davids so that the Barnstaple section would receive the 158s and then the Exmouth and Paignton end would be 143/150. I guess if this did happen, it may happen before the 158s turn up full time?

Yes, if it happens, it would be before the 158s turn up full time.  We'll see.

[paul7575]

There wouldn’t really be anything odd about GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) running trains across Exeter into what is theoretically considered SWR^» (South Western Railway - about) territory.  Looked at more widely across the south would it be much different to GWR running to Gatwick or Brighton?

Paul

[Apedlar12]

Yes, that is what is going to happen but, Apedlar12, scroll back on this thread to see why it's not going to be very soon.

Yes, thanks more likely December then at this rate... I see you did mention something about changing the train at St Davids so that the Barnstaple section would receive the 158s and then the Exmouth and Paignton end would be 143/150. I guess if this did happen, it may happen before the 158s turn up full time?

Yes, if it happens, it would be before the 158s turn up full time.  We'll see.

Where did you hear the info about this possible idea before they turn up fully?

[RichardB]

Yes, that is what is going to happen but, Apedlar12, scroll back on this thread to see why it's not going to be very soon.

Yes, thanks more likely December then at this rate... I see you did mention something about changing the train at St Davids so that the Barnstaple section would receive the 158s and then the Exmouth and Paignton end would be 143/150. I guess if this did happen, it may happen before the 158s turn up full time?

Yes, if it happens, it would be before the 158s turn up full time.  We'll see.

Where did you hear the info about this possible idea before they turn up fully?

A very good source but it was a couple of months ago and they were speculating.  If it did happen, it would be a hassle for passengers and staff to have to change and move forward at St Davids.  It would take a few minutes too.  Easy to see it not happening, I'm afraid.

[Apedlar12]

Yes, that is what is going to happen but, Apedlar12, scroll back on this thread to see why it's not going to be very soon.

Yes, thanks more likely December then at this rate... I see you did mention something about changing the train at St Davids so that the Barnstaple section would receive the 158s and then the Exmouth and Paignton end would be 143/150. I guess if this did happen, it may happen before the 158s turn up full time?

Yes, if it happens, it would be before the 158s turn up full time.  We'll see.

Where did you hear the info about this possible idea before they turn up fully?

A very good source but it was a couple of months ago and they were speculating.  If it did happen, it would be a hassle for passengers and staff to have to change and move forward at St Davids.  It would take a few minutes too.  Easy to see it not happening, I'm afraid.

If that happened, surely there would have to be a lot of platform changes due to other services needing to use P1/P3 at EXD^» (Exeter St Davids - next trains). As usually the Barnstaple bound services use P3 but if there was to be a 158 waiting for the 150/143 it would have to be stored elsewhere e.g. P2 until the service from EXM arrived?

[RichardB]

Yes, that is what is going to happen but, Apedlar12, scroll back on this thread to see why it's not going to be very soon.

Yes, thanks more likely December then at this rate... I see you did mention something about changing the train at St Davids so that the Barnstaple section would receive the 158s and then the Exmouth and Paignton end would be 143/150. I guess if this did happen, it may happen before the 158s turn up full time?

Yes, if it happens, it would be before the 158s turn up full time.  We'll see.

Where did you hear the info about this possible idea before they turn up fully?

A very good source but it was a couple of months ago and they were speculating.  If it did happen, it would be a hassle for passengers and staff to have to change and move forward at St Davids.  It would take a few minutes too.  Easy to see it not happening, I'm afraid.

If that happened, surely there would have to be a lot of platform changes due to other services needing to use P1/P3 at EXD^» (Exeter St Davids - next trains). As usually the Barnstaple bound services use P3 but if there was to be a 158 waiting for the 150/143 it would have to be stored elsewhere e.g. P2 until the service from EXM arrived?

Sorry, just seen this.  No, not necessarily.  For example, in the southbound direction the 150 or 142 for Exmouth could already be in platform 1 and the 158 ex Barnstaple would come in behind it.  If it was decided it was a good idea, it could be done fairly simply but, of course, not as simply as running the train with 150/143s straight through.  We'll see in time. 

[plymothian]

There is no way the Barnstaple line would be allowed to lose its direct service to Exeter Central.

[RichardB]

There is no way the Barnstaple line would be allowed to lose its direct service to Exeter Central.

Generally you are absolutely right.  If the whole swapping thing happened, it would be very short term and only if connections were instant and on the same platform. 

[phile]

Just replying to Phile's message immedately above about 158763 being out on Barnstaple/Exmouth today, again I think that must be pure desperation.  I have had it from on high in GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) that they really don't want to be using 158s on Exmouths.  I'm not making it up!

I don't know who the person on high is but both 158763 and 158766 were working all day on the Devon Metro on Monday.

[Apedlar12]

Just replying to Phile's message immedately above about 158763 being out on Barnstaple/Exmouth today, again I think that must be pure desperation.  I have had it from on high in GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) that they really don't want to be using 158s on Exmouths.  I'm not making it up!

I don't know who the person on high is but both 158763 and 158766 were working all day on the Devon Metro on Monday.

Yes, 763 stayed on all day with 150233 but 766 had to come on due to 150238 breaking down but was later swapped off for 150232

[DaveHarries]

There is no way the Barnstaple line would be allowed to lose its direct service to Exeter Central.

My understanding, from a magazine article, was that Barnstaple services would terminate at Exeter Central with trains between Exmouth, Exeter and Paignton being increased in frequency in lieu. I haven't heard anything to suggest otherwise.

Dave

[IndustryInsider]

There is no way the Barnstaple line would be allowed to lose its direct service to Exeter Central.

My understanding, from a magazine article, was that Barnstaple services would terminate at Exeter Central with trains between Exmouth, Exeter and Paignton being increased in frequency in lieu. I haven't heard anything to suggest otherwise.

I believe they are now looking at going one stop further and running the Barnstaple line trains through to St. James' Park from December.