Dawlish Avoiding Line - ongoing discussion, merged topic

[whole diary]

[bobm]

As soon as someone mentions the buzzword "stakeholders" you just know it is going to take time...

[Red Squirrel]

...three members of the House of Lords have written to Transport Minister Baroness Kramer ^urging her to instruct Network Rail to undertake a major study with Government and business and local authorities to investigate alternative inland route(s) for the main and only railway line serving Exeter, Plymouth, South Devon and Cornwall that will give 100 year resilience to this line.^

Their letter follows expressions of serious concern by council and business leaders in Devon and Cornwall suggesting closure of the line at Dawlish could cost the region up to ^20 million a day, or ^140 million a week.  If repairs take six weeks ^ the minimum approximate estimate so far given by Network Rail ^ the cost to the economy could be over ^800 million.  If repairs take two months, the figure will rise to over ^1 billion.

see http://www.railnews.co.uk/news/2014/02/07-hs2-brought-into-dawlish-rail.html

Not sure how they calculate their figures, but at that rate it wouldn't take long to pay for the DAL and the LSWR^▸ (London South Western Railway)!

Bit irritating to have HS2^▸ (The next High Speed line(s)) brought into the argument though - what possible bearing can that have?

[ChrisB]

THe SW business leaders have always bigged-up their earnings & importance - other commentators in the know estimate a ^2-5million a day - so ^25million a week max. Far more likely.

[Electric train]

As soon as someone mentions the buzzword "stakeholders" you just know it is going to take time...

Just love buzz words  but in this case there lots of interested parties that need to be consulted especially as they have control of money and control planning all NR^» (Network Rail - home page) has is 2% of the National debt

Just out of interest, what do you reckon those timescales would look like if we still had BR^▸ (British Rail(ways))?

Even longer ............. bless it. Like it or loath it NR has determination

[TonyK]

In the meantime, work has begun to repair the damage at Dawlish. A NR^» (Network Rail - home page) Youtube video shows the rather unusual method being chosen for a breakwater.

[ChrisB]

That's in a different thread (or further up this one) - looks as though some combining of threads might be sensible

[stebbo]

HS2^▸ (The next High Speed line(s)) comes into the argument because of the money it's likely to cost. The question is whether some of that money would be better spent on making the existing railway network better/more resilient.

[ChrisB]

Business case supports HS2^▸ (The next High Speed line(s)) for that amount of money

[Red Squirrel]

HS2^▸ (The next High Speed line(s)) comes into the argument because of the money it's likely to cost. The question is whether some of that money would be better spent on making the existing railway network better/more resilient.

But there isn't any money for HS2; there's a business case for borrowing some. It really isn't the same thing. You may not agree that the business case is valid, but that doesn't release any money because there isn't any.

You can't spend business case, but you can make one - and that's what's needed for rail resilience projects.

[JayMac]

That's in a different thread (or further up this one) - looks as though some combining of threads might be sensible

I may get onto this later. We have three threads all currently broadly covering the same topic, so I may look to merge relevant posts. It takes a steady hand and calm nerve to do such merging, so I'll need a drink first!

[stebbo]

Point taken - I expressed myself inelegantly. But there are those of us that think the money to be borrowed/spent on HS2^▸ (The next High Speed line(s)) might be better borrowed/spent on the existing system and Dawlish is a good example as might be sorting out the nonsense at Oxford.

[SandTEngineer]

Thanks to Sprintermeister on the WNXX^▸ (Stored Unserviceable, Mainline Locos HQ All Classes) forum here is the DAL map:

[Red Squirrel]

Fantastic - thanks!

[Red Squirrel]

That would be a good point if there was a limit on the amount of money available for investment. But there sort of isn't, is there?

[Btline]

The line along the Dawlish coast is not fit for purpose - this needs sorting.

The line should be rerouted inland (with higher line speeds) between Exeter and NA. This should be part of a scheme to reduce the journey time to Plymouth to less than 3 hours.

The old line should be axed, or at the most singled - just send a 153 round every couple of hours to hoover up commuters and holiday makers.

The Southern route should also re-open long term. But for different reasons, to provide better links to Tavistock from the rest of Great Britain and improve the economy of North Devon. Of course, this route will not make money, so someone would have to pay to run the loss making service.

The Southern route is no good as a through route:
*it is even SLOWER than the already slow western route
*it has two reversals
*it misses Torbay
*it goes through a National Park