The next twenty years

Midsomer Norton (copyright Rail Thing)

Midsomer Norton (copyright Rail Thing)

(Photo copyright John Penny GLR)

Midford (copyright Rail Thing)

Shillingstone (copyright NDRT)

Spetisbury (copyright Rail Thing)

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The various S&D revival groups have now been around for about 25 years, the New S&D will be 8 years old in March. On the ground the line has certainly made its presence felt, especially at Midsomer Norton and Shillingstone. The Gartell continues to run about once a month and has recently extended towards Templecombe. Spetisbury and Midford are cleared and closer to becoming stations again. Two steam locos reside at Shillingstone, one at Midsomer Norton. The S&D is back - but it still has a very long way to go!

Midsomer Norton has extended southwards towards Chilcompton. Although just under a mile in length it has needed to negotiate with FIVE separate landowners! It is almost as if when the line closed the powers-that-be thought it would be permanent, selling off small parcels of land rather than keeping the trackbed in public ownership. What were they thinking?

Shillingstone has made amazing progress over the last few years. laying track through the station area and a short way north and south. Two steam locos are being restored on site. The signalbox has been rebuilt, just like the one at Midsomer Norton was. They have the advantage of only having to deal with one landowner!

The Gartell Railway is narrow gauge but makes a huge effort at capturing the S&D atmosphere. With its recent extension towards Templecombe now open it uses about a mile of original S&D trackbed.

Spetisbury is being restored gradually, it will in time become a stop on the S&D phase two route from Blandford to Poole. This mainly local initiative ensures that in the future the village will be served by trains, rather than have them rush through without stopping.

At Mdiford work parties recommenced in 2016 and were larger than ever. It's always a great place to work, the location is superb and there's an excellent pub a minute's walk away. Hopefully work to rebuild the buildings will start in the not too distant future. Midford station, and the 400 metres of trackbed towards Bath, is currently the only stretch of the line that is owned by one of the S&D groups.

Over the next twenty  years energy supplies will face a huge crunch. This is of course the reason why we are doing this, but as well as the opportunities this situation presents there are real dangers. Energy shortages will make everything more difficult, more of an effort. It'll be harder to get to the sites and harder to do the work needed, a lot will need to revert to hand (although a few years ago that was exactly how we laid track at Midsomer Norton!) On the plus side the urgency of getting the railway back will become clear to everyone and we should receive a huge boost in both support at local and regional level, and from volunteers desperate to hang on to a link with the outside world. This may well mean big companies, swollen with government funds, will take over the rebuilding of the S&D, and many other lines. That's why it's so important for us to be doing the groundwork now, so we get the S&D we want! The more line we restore now the easier it will be to leverage rebuilding in the style we want.

Everyone with an interest in the S&D really should be getting deeply involved with this restoration. It's great fun, the S&D community is growing and diverse and what could be better than spending an hour or two down on the line helping it return?

the old order ...

Watchdog 'worry' on council-run rail lines

Saturday, May 05, 2012

Western Morning News

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A passenger campaign group has said it is "very worried" about proposals which could see more control over railways passed down to local authorities.

Devon County Council's cabinet will next week examine its preferred options on a Government consultation of devolution of the train network. But Chris Irwin, chairman of passenger group Travelwatch South West, said he had grave concerns over several aspects of the proposal.

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He said: "In principle it's a great idea, but in practice I'm very worried about it."

Cornwall Council has already indicated it is broadly interested in the ability to control certain aspects of the train network system, which could include timetabling, setting fares, deciding where investment should be made and, potentially, deciding to reopen stations that are currently closed. The consultation is part of a wider overhaul planned for the country's rail network, after fares were found to be 30 per cent too high compared to elsewhere in Europe. It is hoped decentralisation would help improve value for money.

But Mr Irwin questioned whether funding would still be available to renew equipment and infrastructure, and said: "In this climate of frozen council tax and so on, the answer to that is probably 'no'."

He also raised concerns over what would happen when a passenger crossed local authority boundaries, if it was also passing from one operator to another. And he said: "Local authorities have been slimmed down over the past few years. Have they still got the competence within them to manage these services?"

He said Devon and Cornwall were possible exceptions that could have the expertise, but said: "Somerset County Council is one example where transport expertise has been denuded."

In Devon, the council has previously voiced hopes that devolution could provide an opportunity to progress its vision of a Devon metro transport system which would involve bringing all rail services in the county together under a single brand. It would involve a new service from Okehampton to Exeter and the reopening of the line from Plymouth and Bere Alston to Tavistock.

On Wednesday, the cabinet will consider a range of options, which include local authorities being able to take control of specific areas under a single franchise awarded to one operator. It would allow the council to invest its own money to supplement improvements to certain aspects of the service.

Council officers have said the idea is "workable", but warned that it would rely on a good budget settlement from Government, and that future growth of the network should not sap council coffers.

Another "workable" option is that "micro-franchises" could be tendered for particular areas within the main franchise. But officers have warned that interlinking lines benefit passengers, and so the option was unlikely to improve the situation in Devon.

The Government consultation is part of a far-reaching overhaul of the service, designed to make efficiency savings across the network.

To my mind all these attempts to bring a degree of government (in the broad sense of the word) control of railways is just more interference and meddling by people who simply don't have a clue what they are doing.

Free railway companies from the controls that are currently on them (franchising, leasing arrangements, government decreed fares etc) and they will soon fill the need locally. Businesses like to expand, in the current and permanent no-growth state we find ourselves in railways will be one of the few businesses that WILL be able to expand, along with organic farming, crafts, timber and railway/tramway equipment construction. The market needs to be allowed to operate. The New S&D, forward-looking as always, wants to be the prime example of this new type of business - sustainable, community owned and operated, innovative and inspirational.

Too many people still think its the 1980s, and it's time to put to one side tiny schemes to reopen stations or upgrade routes - nothing less than a wholesale construction of thousands of miles of new railways and tramways will enable us to switch from the Oil Age to the Post Oil Age without huge upheavals.

The most important part of the above article is the (rather obvious!) need to reinstate the Okehampton-Tavistock-Bere Alston line, the biggest no-brainer of all!

station, not railway, but otherwise great!!

Pembrokeshire railway reopens after 48 years

• Rachael Misstear, WalesOnline
• May 14 2012

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Fishguard Goodwick Station in the 1950s

The last train arriving for passengers at Fishguard and Goodwick station’s platform was more than 48 years ago.

However, commuters wanting to travel from the North Pembrokeshire railway station won’t face such lengthy delays after the facility was reopened today for the first time since 1964.

Once a bustling hub for both traders and passengers - the station became a victim of the Beeching cuts and was closed by British Railways, when services were withdrawn.

Its revival follows a long campaign by a passenger group which says the existing Fishguard station at the ferry terminal was too far outside the town.

It comes after a £1.4m -a-year rail service to Fishguard was launched last September in a move aimed at boosting the area’s tourism and economy.

The five extra daily services between Fishguard and Carmarthen were in addition to the two services connecting with the ferries to Ireland.

The latest project has seen around £325,000 spent on rebuilding and updating the old station, which will now benefit from the extra trains, running Monday to Saturday.

The North Pembrokeshire Transport Forum (NPTF), which campaigned for a better station and improved services, said parking at the old station was also too expensive.

Secretary Hatti Woakes said the reopening was great news for the area.

“This is such wonderful news for the people of Pembrokeshire, it is something we have worked so hard for since the forum began.

“Goodwick has the potential to be a hub for so many things but the only thing missing was a decent train service.”

She said the forum was involved in the preparation of the new timetables.

“We tried to organise them so that people can travel when they want to.

“We’re now getting people commuting to Carmarthen, which we have never had before. These train services were really the missing link for Pembrokeshire.”

Tourism and business leaders have welcomed the service and facility, which they say is a major development in public service improvement for North Pembrokeshire.

Councillor Jamie Adams, who is also a member of SWWITCH (the South West Wales Integrated Transport Consortium), said improvements to rail services west of Swansea were not only a priority for Pembrokeshire but for the South West region as a whole.

“The re-opening of the station is a positive step for the communities of Fishguard and Goodwick and will help attract passengers to the new enhanced rail services,” he said.

Jeremy Martineau of Fishguard and Goodwick Chamber of Trade and Tourism said businesses were bound to benefit from the redevelopment.

“There is no doubt the people of Goodwick, and more widely across West Wales, will benefit from this, not only for their personal transport connections but in terms of attracting tourists.

“This reconnects us to tourists in an even more visible and more environmentally responsible way. It is tempting for people from abroad and across the boarder to see us as very remote but this is an important signal that says ‘we are here, we are accessible, it is a wonderful area , so come and visit.’”

Local photographer and historian Johnny Morris said the station, once a thriving hub of trade, deserved a revival.

“The station was once a busy hub of activity with trucks of coal heading out from there with at least three merchants operating.

“There was also, more surprisingly, a great deal of rabbit being traded via the station. During the Second World War, there were three agents who were sending hampers of about 40 rabbits each every day to places like Coventry, London Birmingham . The rabbits of West Wales kept the people of the English cities fed with quality protein during the war years. My grandfather was being paid 15 shillings a week from catching rabbits and that was a profitable sideline for many people. This really was a thriving and busy station and at one point carried around 200 people working at the Royal Navy Armaments Depot at nearby Trecwn.

“To see the station reopen is incredibly important for the area.”

Ben Davies, Stakeholder Liaison Manager for Arriva Trains Wales said:

“This area will see a real benefit from the additional service this will allow us to provide, which will no doubt have a positive impact on the local economy."

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Read More http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2012/05/14/91466-30966854/#ixzz1uyeaO11o

more doubling ... yet more trains

Our roving committee member Lee Fletcher sent me a piece on the Loughor Viaduct a few months ago which estimated that the cost of building this structure was in the region of fifteen million pounds only. This puts the cost of restoring/rebuilding bridges and viaducts on the S&D into perspective and suggests that rebuilding of the route will not be as expensive as first thought.

This new viaduct is part of the redoubling of a route in south Wales, more info has just come in.

A £40m plan to significantly improve the rail infrastructure between Swansea and Gowerton was unveiled yesterday as Network Rail submitted its proposal to Carmarthenshire Council.

Backed by the Welsh Government and the South West Wales Integrated Transport Consortium (SWWITCH), this improvement will meet a key rail strategy to improve performance, connectivity and cater to a rising passenger demand in West Wales.

It is forecast that passengers in West Wales could rise by 20% by the end of the decade.

Jointly funded by Network Rail and the Welsh Government, the scheme combines two core programmes of work – the replacement of the Loughor viaduct and the installation of an additional six-mile track between Cockett West Junction and Duffryn West Junction.

In addition, the disused eastbound platform at Gowerton station will be reinstated to cater for the new track.

Mark Langman, route managing director for Network Rail Wales, said yesterday:

“Today’s announcement of our plan is another affirmation of Network Rail’s commitment to growing the railway in Wales.

“This scheme has come about by a shared vision with the Welsh Government and SWWITCH, and the recognition that investment in rail infrastructure is good for the economy and will help support and nurture Welsh economic growth.

“We hope that local authorities, passengers and the local community share our vision of the long term benefits and support us during the construction works to deliver the scheme successfully.

“The scheme promises to bring huge social economic benefits in south west Wales by improving capacity and connectivity to key employment centres such as Swansea, Llanelli, Carmarthen, Fishguard and Milford Haven.

“There will be an improved passenger experience with shorter journey times and better connections that will also encourage modal shift, potentially removing around 300,000 trips from road to rail and improving the green credentials of rail.”

Key benefits of the scheme include:

• A new structure at Loughor and that is strong enough to support two tracks.
• Better performance on the railway as the additional new track will allow trains to continue to run when one of the lines is shut or congested.
• Provide more capacity on the railway to potentially enable two more trains to run between Swansea and Llanelli and one more train to run between Swansea and Carmarthen per hour.
• A bigger, accessible and secure Gowerton station with two platforms, a new DDA compliant footbridge with ramps, real-time customer information system, CCTVs and better lighting.
• Modernised signalling infrastructure and enhanced crossing equipment at Duffryn to improve infrastructure reliability and safety.
• Stronger bridges at Traffle Mill, Gypsy Cross and Rhosog.

Subject to planning approval and listed building consent, Network Rail is proposing to keep the existing natural stone abutments and some of the Grade II listed trestles and erect a small section of the old Loughor viaduct on the West shore as part of its conservation efforts.

In addition, Network Rail will be seeking approval from Environment Agency Wales, Countryside Council for Wales, WG Marine Consent Team to help protect the environment at the Loughor Estuary and Carmarthen Bay area. An environmental impact assessment has also been carried out.

Work will also be planned carefully to minimise disruption to passengers by carrying out majority of the work without having to close the railway.

Source.

more doubling ... more trains

Wrexham Council has welcomed the news that the railway line between Wrexham and Chester is to be redoubled after 30 years of single track lines. Between Saltney Junction and Wrexham General, seven miles of track will be redoubled, having been singled in the 1980s and the line speed will be increased to 90mph on some sections. The costs of the proposed redoubling and line speed works are estimated at £36.66m. The works are expected to be completed by early 2015.

Redoubling of this line has been one of the council’s strategic rail objectives and has been a priority of Taith, the regional transport consortia for some time. The scheme is being delivered under the Welsh Governments National Transport Plan, as part of the North-South Wales journey time enhancement project.

(Via Railfuture)

saltford's getting closer

A petition signed by more than 2,000 people calling for the reopening of Saltford railway station has been presented in Parliament.

North East Somerset MP Jacob Rees-Mogg handed over the petition in the House of Commons as a campaign gathers pace to get trains stopping once again at the halt which closed in 1970.

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   From left, Chris Warren, Jacob Rees-Mogg MP, Richard James and Duncan Hounsell

A team of more than 30 campaigners knocked on doors in the village to collect 2,028 signatures, which they estimate represents support from around two-thirds of households – with success at around 90 per cent of homes where someone was in.

Nearly 800 of the people signing up said they would use the station at least once a week, with 261 saying they would be daily users.

Mr Rees-Mogg met representatives of the Saltford Station Campaign Group at Westminster Hall to receive the petition and later formally handed it in during a session in the main chamber.

Group spokesman Duncan Hounsell said: “Jacob Rees-Mogg has given the campaign whole-hearted support from the outset. Handing in our petition to the House of Commons gives our campaign another boost.”

The station campaign is backed by B&NES Council, which has agreed to act as the official promoter of the reopening project, Bath Spa University and the West of England Partnership.

Mr Rees-Mogg said: “Reopening it makes a lot of sense. The A4 is a very heavily used road and if we can move more people from road to rail, that would have great benefits for the community.”

He said the speeding up of trains with the electrification of the line through the village meant it would be less disruptive to introduce more stopping services into timetables.

“In the 13 years from 1997 to 2010, just ten miles of line were electrified. There are now plans for 800 – that is a huge increase.”

spetisbury ... all systems go!!

Dear Volunteer,

I have just posted these messages to our Facebook page, and if anyone cannot make it for any reason, and wants to keep up to date with our progress at Spetisbury, visit http://www.facebook.com/ and if you have a facebook account, log in and get yourself on the Spetisbury facebook page, we would be glad of your company.

If you don't have a facebook account, don't worry. We will also have our progress posted on The New Somerset & Dorset Railway website at http://www.somersetanddorsetrailway.co.uk/

Anyway, here are the messages!

OK Group! I can't hold onto the news any longer. We are good to go, or we will be on the 1st of May. I met with Richard at DCC on Monday, and he is going to give us a license to do clearance work on the platforms. I will get the full details in due course, but I want to call a site meeting for Sunday 6th May, so I am going to need numbers. Those of you who can make it, please let me know. I need you to park up at the school which is up the north end of the village, as there is not enough room by the bridge, close to the station. Let's say between 10 and 11am. And bring tools, just in case we feel the urge to get started on the day. I know this is cheesey! But, ARE YOU WITH ME?

I know I have mentioned this before, but if you want to help us and work on the clearance of the platforms, we need you to be a member of The New Somerset and Dorset Railway. It's all to do with insurance. I will bring forms with me for those of you who have not signed up yet!
I know this is obvious, but I would like all volunteers who work on the clearance work party, to wear at least strong shoes/ boots, preferably steel toe capped.
I don't want any accidents, and I am sure that you don't either! That's it, I have said my piece! Now let's go and have some fun!

If you want to help, and you have not let me know through the facebook page, then please reply to this e-mail so that I know how many of you will be turning up on the day?

Best regards,

Dean Cockwell

Project Manager - Spetisbury

The New Somerset & Dorset Railway