ndrailusers - Mag09

Issue 9, January 2002

Editorial Right: Bridge over the Taw near Weir Marsh, below Portsmouth Arms, from the nearby road. In this spring view, the water is low. The vegetation on the right, however, indicates that it has recently been much higher. The silting up of the right hand span (of five spans) is also visible. While claiming no expertise in how rivers flow, we wonder whether removing this obstruction would reduce the chances of flood damage at this point.

Picture: John Gulliver

We are sorry for the late running of this issue of the NDRUG magazine, and apologize for any inconvenience caused. We mentioned, an issue or two ago, that we were altering the publication date of the magazine. This was because it was felt that to receive a magazine in December, asking you to rummage in your pockets for your subscriptions, was probably a little unwelcome at a time when money, and concentration, was being expended on other things. Now that the season of good will and small bank balances is over, our latest issue, packed with news, pops through the letterbox, warmly welcomed, no doubt!

Table of Contents Editorial Chiltern Railways and the Wessex Franchise The Way Ahead: Paying the Piper More Wales Than West News Update Forthcoming Events Cheshire Railtours Future NDRUG Meetings Taw Bridges: Flood Damage Protection Tarka Line Action Plan Update Thoughts on an RTA Dream or reality?

Chairman's Report Branch Lines at Home and Abroad When Things Go Wrong ACoRP, TR&IN and Rolling Stock Design The David and John Show Goes On Tour Better Than Half Full...

Readers Write

This really is a bumper issue. For those of you who did not attend our AGM and receive a copy of The Way Ahead, a copy is enclosed with this magazine. There is also a questionnaire to fill in and return relating to the contents of The Way Ahead. The information we hope to receive from you will be very important in helping the committee to know whether we have got things right.

Please take time to fill in and return the form in the envelope provided.

We were also waiting for the Strategic Rail Authority's report to be issued before going to press: its contents could well have changed dramatically the slant of this issue. As it is, we are promised - only in the medium term, it is true - an hourly, clock-face service, something for which we have campaigned for a long time. There is nothing else overwhelmingly significant for us in the report but, then, there is nothing especially threatening either. Many rumours have been shown to be just that. But we cannot afford to be complacent: there is much still to do.

Just what is still to be done has been published, after a period of careful and prolonged discussion, in The Way Ahead. Rather than expand here on what it contains, I ask you to read it carefully for it forms the basis of our future attempts to get a better deal for the line.

I should like to finish by asking everyone to consider if they might be able to help the work of the committee in any way. The decision of Lewis Andrews to step down (family reasons: he now has a son, Oliver George; and our congratulations) from being Press and Publicity Officer has left us with a big gap. In addition to the need to fill this position, there are many ways in which assistance could be given. This magazine; The Way Ahead, and the running of NDRUG, are very labour intensive. We need help if we are to be able to continue at this sort of level. Please consider if you might be able to assist.

David Gosling

Chiltern Railways and the Wessex Franchise

The following statement, kindly supplied on 20th November by Ian Baxter, Chiltern Rail's Business Development Manager, and reproduced with his permission, will be of interest to all members who have wondered whether SBB-Laing and Chiltern Railways continue to be interested in the Wessex Franchise, which, among other things, includes the North Devon line: it was previously published in the Guardian.

'The SBB-Laing partnership remains very interested in the future Wessex franchise, having undertaken an extensive consultation process with stakeholders across western and southern England in 2000/2001 and gained a thorough understanding of their aspirations for the development of the railway network in the region. We look forward to the government and SRA re-commencing the re-franchising programme, and will then further consider the nature of the Wessex franchise that emerges from that process.'

John Gulliver

The Way Ahead: Paying the Piper Better trains and more of them, running for a longer period each day; improved stations, better staffed and open for more hours; track more able to withstand all that the winter rains throw at it; and so on. All aspirations for the North Devon line set out in our Group's recant publication, The Way Ahead. Both as an individual and as a member of the committee, I subscribe to them wholeheartedly.

That said, it's as well to note that these aspirations have one thing in common. Realising them will cost money. How much, we don't know, but it will certainly be much more than is spent on the line at the moment. How is it to be found? Here I want to take off my committee hat and write just as an individual. In this way I can raise a few issues and, perhaps, provoke some of our readers to contribute to the thinking that I believe we need to do on this matter, even if only to tell me that I have got it all wrong!

In my view, there are just three ways of paying for the improvements we seek. One, to use the current jargon, is from the fare box. A second is by private capital, channelled through a train operating company or a body like Railtrack. The third is from the public purse.

Let's look at each in turn.

Could we, then, fund improvements on the scale we envisage from the fare box? Many hold that a better service would attract more passengem and thus bring in more revenue. A bigger fare box could pay for a better railway. Unfortunately, this cunning plan has several snags. The most obvious one is that, in order to gain the anticipated new passengers, you must first fund the improvements.

The revenue from the current service fails some way short of the costs of providing it, let alone of generating the surpluses needed for improvements. No way forward there, then. Nor, to pay for improvements later, could you charge more for the service we have now. That would surely drive even our present passengers away. Even borrowing the money for improvements now in the hope of paying it back from greater revenue later does not look too promising. The eventual fare box would have to be very big indeed. It would call for a shift in people's travelling habits on a quite unprecedented scale. No, the fare box route looks like a nonstarter.

Perhaps, then, we could take the second route, leaving one of the train operating companies to take the strain? Maybe improving services on the Barnstaple line could be made a condition of the franchise? Some of the bids we were seeing a year or so ago make this look like a promising way forward. Right now, Wessex Trains is showing increasing signs of innovative thinking. By such means, one might, for instance, expect to see capital invested in substantial improvements to Barnstaple and other stations, and, perhaps, to train interiors. Chiltern Rail, for example, which has long shown an interest in the franchise, is already experimenting with the latter.

Such improvements, moreover, could be had relatively cheaply.

But the greatest problem would still remain. The faster, more regular service we want can't be had without upgrading the line's infrastruclure. That will be expensive. What drives an operating company, or at least the shareholders that underpin it, is the prospect of profit. So long as there is more to be gained from running more lucrative sawices elsewhere, that is understandably where the company's major investments will go. That is especially so for a line like ours, where substantial profits from the fare box are unlikely.

There are only two ways out of this jam. One is to make the franchise conditions so stiff that the company has no option but to pay for the Barnstaple line improvements and everyday running out of its general capital and revenue. The problem with this is that the company might walk away. The other is to provide the money from another source. It is difficult to see how that source can be other than the public purse.

This, of course, is the third option. Them's nothing novel about it. Funds are already provided from the national public purse to both Railtrack and the operating company. From county (Devon) to district (Mid Devon, North Devon, Torridge) and town (Barnstaple, Crediton) level, in spite of tight budgetary constraints, local government has been consistent in its financial support for the line. This in turn is complemented from time to time by sums allocated for specific projects by bodies like the Countryside Agency. Usually, but always constructively, they are channelled through the Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership.

The principle of public funding, then, is already well established. Without its application over recent years, them would probably be no line today at all. Instead, a level of service higher than that stipulated by the Passenger Service Requirement has been sustained and some significant improvements have been made to the facilities the line offers. The problem is that all this fails some way short of the major overhaul of the service envisaged in The Way Ahead. In this, upgrading the line's infrastructure and sustaining the service at a higher level than it now supports are the key challenges.

If the argument developed so far is valid, then these enhancements must be funded primarily from public sources and more will be needed from them than is now provided. The demands on public funding, however, are unceasing. What justification could there be for the North Devon line claiming more than its present share?

It is this question that should now exercise us. Fortunately, the times are providing us with answers. The development of more environmentally sound approaches to transport is now a goal of national and local policy alike. So too is transport provision that is available to all members of our society, regardless of their circumstances. Similarly, them is growing recognition of the importance of public transport to economic and social life.

To have any chance of success, arguments for more public funding for the North Devon line must catch this tide. Inevitably they will require us to face ethical, economic and political issues, although, fortunately, none needs to be approached from a party political perspective. Are we brave enough to explore them?

John Gulliver

More Wales Than West Readers who came to the AGM will remember that I received a surprise present of two Wales and West tickets to any destination.

Straight away Anna and I decided to go for a weekend walking in Shropshire, before planning any details, and so had the tickets made out to Whitchurch, the furthest point in that county.

On Saturday 24th November we set off on the 07.28 from Kings Nympton, and after an hour or so at Exeter, joined the Manchester train, arriving in Ludlow at 12.37. The plan was to take a bus from Ludlow westwards towards the Shropshire part of the Heart of Wales Line. Luckily a vehicle labelled Clun was waiting to leave (12.50 from the town square, but for any reader who may try this, we found we could have caught it nearer the station on its way out of town). This took us to Broome, where them was a pub (not shown on OS maps) right by the station. We were just in time for a drink and sandwich before catching the Heart of Wales train (not on our tickets of course) to Hopton Heath.

Broome and Hopton Heath stations are request stops, similar to many on the Barnstaple line, but unusually they are lit by solar panels. Electricity is collected by the panels during the day, and fed to an accumulator. This then powers a rather dim fluorescent lamp when it's dark. I wonder why this hasn't been done on the Looe branch and at Luxulyan, where trains don't stop in darkness.

(Remember the fuss about this on the Barnstaple line a few years back?)

Hopton Heath is the station for Hopton Castle, so we walked first to the castle, and then through hilly country to Bucknell. At dusk, another Heart of Wales train took us back, via Craven Arms Junction, to Church Stretton, where we found accommodation for the night. Having booked in, still with some unused free ticket, we took an evening train trip to Shrewsbury for dinner.

Sunday morning was rather damp, but we still managed a good walk on the Long Mynd, a sizeable range of hills at Church Stretton.

Then on the train to Ludlow (which is full of historic buildings) for the afternoon, finally leaving there on the 15.41 direct train to Exeter, and so back home.

Many thanks for an excellent weekend!

Roger Joannes

News Update This winter's timetable on Saturdays enables people from Exeter to visit the well known Beer Engine pub, very close to the station at Newton St. Cyres (out on either the 18.17 or 20.53 from Exeter St. David's, returning on the 22.51 from Newton St. Cyres).

Disruption to North Devon trains was caused on Monday 15 October, from about 10.00, due to a severe wheel flat on the leading wagon of the 09.30 ballast train from Meldon Quarry to Westbury, which was stopped on the single line just east of Crediton. For the rest of the day, road motor services ran between Exeter St. David's and Crediton with trains between Crediton and Barnstaple. It is understood the ballast train was finally moved to Exeter Riverside Yard at about 22.30, after a special wheel skate was fitted under the defective wheel.

Winter Sunday passenger trains are running on the Tamar Valley line this winter; the first between Gunnislake and Bere Alston since 1961, and between Bere Alston and St. Budeaux since Sunday Sth May 1968, when the former Main Line between Meldon Viaduct and Bere Alston was, foolishly, closed to all trains; finally being dismantled westwards from Meldon by train between September 1969 and April 1970.

It is quite ironic that vast sums of taxpayers money is now being spent (via Sustrans) in making much of the former Southern Main Line between Meldon and Tavistock into a cycle way for leisure use. The new cycle 'road', which is covered in tarmac throughout, wiggles its way on the former double line formation, thereby making any chances of track relaying even more costly and therefore less likely! On my visit in November the extent of the works undertaken on and around Lake Viaduct, near Sourton, made me at first think that the formation and viaduct was being prepared for a train!

Crediton station's popular Tea Rooms and Craft Shop (Tel: 01363 777766) is normally open from approximately 10.00 to 16.00, Mondays to Saturdays, and also on Sundays (after Easter) for their excellent value lunches. On display is the fascinating 'Crediton 150' photographic exhibition and the growing '0' Gauge, ScaleSeven model of Crediton station.

Although timetabled services on the North Devon line are Scheduled to be worked by either 2-car Class 150 or single car 'Skud' Class 153 units, passengers can occasionally be surprised and find a superior comfort, and air-conditioned, 2-car Class 158 (as observed on the 18.01 Exeter Central and 19.13 Barnstaple on 12th December) or a very much inferior 2-car Class 143, on services when the scheduled unit is not available.

An excellent book The Okehampton Line has recently been published on the Southern's Exeter to Plymouth main line. John Nicholas and George Reeve are the authors, and its 236 pages contain many previously unpublished photographs. It is in the same format as John's superb book on the North Devon line published in 1992 and is available from the Crediton Station Tea Rooms.

During November track workers from Amey (Railtrack's track maintenance contractor for the South West) were observed changing some of the timber sleepers between Copplestone and Morchard Road, on what is now arguably the longest stretch of 45 ft rails, (60 ft being the standard for many years), anywhere on the former BR Western Region area. The new sleepers were creosoted Douglas Fir with second hand rail chairs and they were generally replacing Douglas Fir sleepers of circa-1955 vintage (at 47 years this is several years longer life than is now proving to be the case with concrete sleepers on main lines!). Incidentally the rails between Copplestone and Morchard Road came second-hand, possibly in the 1950s, from an SR main line, having been made at Port Talbot as long ago as 1938. Because of the lightweight trains on the North Devon line, and the excellent steel quality of these rails, they should last for many more years. (Following the October, 2000 Hatfield derailment, caused by a defective rail, many hundreds of miles of rail, some only a few years old, was subsequently replaced on main routes due to 'gauge corner cracking'causing, amongst other things, a major investigation into the quality of steel now found in rails).

The appalling state of the track at Umberleigh is often remarked on by observant passengers. Drainage is poor, ballast clogged with oil, mud and weeds, and most of the sleepers are rotten. On a visit to the station on 14th November, it was noticed that at least 90% of the sleepers have now, at last, been marked for replacing. it should be mentioned that the condition of the track at Umberleigh is fortunately not typical of the overall condition found elsewhere on the North Devon line. During a subsequent visit, on 31st December, it was observed that replacement of the rotten sleepers had been completed.

The line has a mixture of wood and concrete sleepers on bullbead and flatbottom rail. With the exception of the continuously welded flatbottom rails found at Cowley Bridge, Newton St. Cyres, Yeoford to Coleford Jn., and just south of Eggesford, the line is jointed rail. The oldest sleepers are thought to be the oak sleepers of 1946 in the Chenson area. Incidentally, there can be few sleepers on a passenger line of this age: they are a testament to their quality, and that they are fortunately in a well drained location. Many of the 1950s chaired concrete sleepers, such as those at Morchard Road, in fact came second-hand with the dismantling of the Torrington line around 1984/5.

The Totnes Rail Transport Group, accompanied by NDRUG committee member Tony Hill, visited Plymouth Laira Diesel Depot, at the invitation of First Great Western, on the night of Friday October 19th, on a 'Meet the Manager' fact finding mission. This proved immensely interesting and worthwhile - about 80 HST coaches/power cars and conventional locomotives and coaches are serviced there each night. In addition, minor and heavy repairs, major overhauls, full repaints, and wheel turning services to First Great Western and Virgin Cross Country coaches and power cars are undertaken.

It has to be acknowledged that when Devon's branch and local services second generation diesel multiple unit fleet was, several years ago, based at Exeter St. David's, instead of Plymouth Laira, for servicing, there was an immediate improvement in the standard of cleaning and maintenance, and train cancellations have become very rare!

Some readers may be aware that the Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh line has, since 29th of October and until further notice, been terminating short at Strathcarron (with road motor services thence to Kyle) due to a serious rock fall. Railtrack Scotland has already come up with possible solutions; including a new causeway on the shores of Loch Carron for the railway, costing ÂŁ2.5 million. For a line with only three trains each way a day, and carrying far fewer passengers than the North Devon line, it shows just what can be done. I have a strong feeling that if our line was in Scotland we would be in a far more robust state to withstand the effects of a heavy downpour!

There have been recent sightings of Class 143 units in and around Exeter St. David's: three of them are thought to be serviced daily at the depot there vice one prior to October. This means that if 150/153 failures occur there are now greater chances of a 143 getting on North Devon line services. Also 158s have a habit of not keeping to diagram and this, coupled with covering for a 150/153, have clearly led (fortuitously) to more 158-worked trains on our line. However, I suggest we all need to log any incidences of 158 & 143 substitution, particularly the (undesirable) use of 143 units, so we can consider suitable anti-143 action! I have received a report that loadings to Barnstaple were (as to be hoped) very heavy from midday on Friday and Saturday, 21st and 22nd of December.

Tony Hill

Forthcoming Events 1st February: Bideford and Instow Railway Group meeting - talk & slideshow by Dartmoor Railway Manager on present and future plans for their Okehampton line.

1st March: Bideford and Instow Railway Group meeting - talk & slideshow by Richard Burningham on the Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership. Both these meetings will be held at the Royal British Legion, High Street, Bideford, starting at 19.30.

11th to 15th February: Steam hauled special trains, using a Merchant Navy or West Country Class pacific, from Yeovil Jn. to Salisbury and Eastleigh and return. (it should be possible to connect at Yeovil Jn, from/to North Devon by service trains).

Details from Steam Dreams 01483 209888.

14th February: Eggesford station. Meet 11.45 for a guided walk around Eggesford Forest and the River Taw. Details are available from the Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership, University of Plymouth.

22nd-23rd March: Tarka Line Beer Festival Weekend - to launch the Tarka Rail Ale Trail. For details contact the Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership.

Cheshire Railtours Regrettably, Cheshire Railtours (01984 640005), organisers of some very successful HST trips from Barnstaple over the last few years, have been unable, despite strenuous efforts, to charter for 2002, a suitable train to run from Barnstaple, or from anywhere in the South West. This is mainly due to the lack of a spare HST or diesel multiple unit and the reluctance of some train operating companies to run charters. Many people have been able to enjoy the great benefits provided by the running of these through trains from North Devon to a variety of destinations and it is certain that many of the passengers would not have travelled by rail if it hadn't been for these special 'main line' trains. We fully support the running of these special trains and wish Cheshire Railtours every

success in their efforts to run trains from North Devon again in the future. We take the opportunity of of thanking Cheshire Railtours for the generous donation to NDRUG funds of the profits received in 2000 and 2001 from raffles run on two of their special trains from Barnstaple.

Future NDRUG Meetings The following meetings have been arranged: Wednesday, 6th February; 19.00; Rising Sun Hotel, Umberleigh.

Special: Tuesday, 19th March: 19.15; Station Tea Rooms, Crediton.

Wednesday, 10th April; 17.00; Station Tea Rooms, Crediton.

Tony Hill

Taw Bridges: Flood Damage Protection With committee members Hugh Butterworth and John Gulliver, I spent the fine frosty morning of 31st December 2001 visiting the six main rail bridges over the river Taw below Eggesford believed to be most vulnerable to flood damage. While limited by the desirability of avoiding going onto the Railway and drowning(!), the low level at which the river was running made observation of the bridge piers fairly easy from the river banks. We were impressed by the relatively major works carded out in summer 2001 at the five-span Weir Marsh Bridge (about 2 miles north of Portsmouth Arms), where a concrete apron and protection skirt had been constructed around its piers to prevent scour damage to the foundations. It was Railtrack's concern for the stability of this bridge, following the October 2000 floods, that kept the Portsmouth Arms to Barnstaple part of the line closed until March 2001.

We were unable to see signs of remedial work to the other bridges, but do not infer from this that none had been done. We hope that the line's passenger service is now more assured in times of high rainfall, following the attention given to the Weir Marsh bridge especially.

Tony Hill

Tarka Line Action Plan Update Kim Leech of the hard working and innovative Plymouth based Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership Office (headed by Richard Burningham), gave a report on the main projects to be introduced on the North Devon line in 2002. These include Eggesford Forest walks; Ale Trail by Train (nearly all stations on the line have a pub close to them!); community involvement (first is 'Friends of Crediton' which, hopefully, will see improvements, funded by the Countryside Agency, to the station's environment - lights, seating, flowerbeds, fences, footbridge, signing and posters etc.); replacement waiting shelters for Copplestone and Morchard Road; some extra lights for Eggesford; replacement poster boards for stations between Crediton and Lapford inclusive; improvements to the station approach mad and car parking at Umberleigh; and various as yet unspecified improvements at Barnstaple.

The potential for further improvements will be investigated, including the long overdue (and acknowledged by Devon County Council) need for a rail users' car park at Yeoford, possibly using the former goods yard, which has been virtually unused and in private ownership for several years.

A new 'What's on' leaflet has been produced detailing events such as Jazz Trains, and walks etc., taking place on and around the Devon and Cornwall branch Lines.

For details of events an the North Devon line see our Forthcoming Events item. For full details, and to receive a future free leaflet, please write to: Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership Faculty of Science University of Plymouth

Plymouth PL4 8AA. Tony Hill

Thoughts on an RTA During a recent trip to South Yorkshire to ride the Sheffield Supertram, I dreamed of a Regional Transport Authority issuing a Travelcard, Travelmaster, or call it what you will, for the South West, this to give bus, train and ferry(!) access with one ticket.

Dream or reality?

The various Welsh Rover tickets are valid on all train and bus companies, and cover country as well as urban routes. First Group Day Explorer tickets on buses are valid from Bristol and Bath to Penzance and even to Barnstaple, and also on Wilts and Dorset as far as Salisbury, Southampton and Bournemouth. Why are they not valid on First Great Western?

Perhaps the new Wessex franchise, particularly if acquired by First Group, could be pressed on this issue. Even the much criticised Wales and West promoted Rover tickets.

Jim Rhodes

Chairman's Report So, it's out at last. After many months of wondering, fretting, and scare-mongering, it has finally surfaced: the Strategic Rail Authority report on the future of Britain's railways. When something of this nature - on which so much depends - is a long time coming, it is only natural, though unfortunate, that rumour grows rife, and I will freely admit that, though I hope I was never injudicious enough to add to rumour by passing on stories as fact, I nevertheless felt continually nervous about what this particular messenger might bring. This government, after all, has a reputation for having said many things - both before and after their election to office in 1997 subsequently watering them down to a disappointingly weak solution - if solution is quite the term I seek!

The week before publication, regional newspapers were full of the rumours that our service, among others, might be subject to radical changes resulting in the substitution of its rail-based operation with some form of bus transport. This proved to be false.

Unfortunately, presumably from fears of admitting to have egg on its face, the press has avoided the opportunity of putting things right. When asked by the media for his views before the event, Secretary John Gulliver was understandably, and rightly, cautious.

The worst was printed anyway. When asked again, after the event, the media hooked onto one small point of caution that John urged, and conveniently omitted to disseminate the somewhat important news that the line was, after all, to have trains still running on its tracks; that they would be hourly; and that they would depart Exeter and Barnstaple at regular intervals past each hour. There must be people in Devon who still think that all is over for our railway: the press always feed on bad news and, when they are mislead, however this might arise, they seem to have a singular fear of admitting it, even though this might result in false information becoming widely accepted as fact.

So, the wide - national - news is not unhealthy, though admittedly, it is also not especially wonderful. Political wrangling and self-interested interpretation is, as expected, rife and should be discounted. What is left is the future. What is left is what we have to work with. Personally, I feel that dividing infrastructure from train operations is crackers, and it will ever prove to remain so. In Railways: Civil Engineering, published thirty years ago, in 1971, Bryan Morgan reflected on what would be the prognosis if ever railways in Britain should be managed under this split-responsibility arrangement. We can now tell him! While we have politicians courageous enough only to half-grasp this particular nettle, there will always be a sting strong enough to be felt and regretted by all who rely on and understand the true importance of our railways.

David Gosling

Branch Lines at Home and Abroad After our AGM, our Chairman and Secretary (aka David and John) put on an excellent presentation to complement the launch of the Group's new publication, The Way Ahead.

John began by showing slides of Barnstaple station: modem, light, airy, and with excellent facilities. It wasn't long before we realised that we were looking at Barnstaple Bus Station. The pictures of the railway station that followed revealed a more familiar scene: leaking roof, cramped waiting room, restricted ticket and information space, and so on. We looked, too, at the decaying bus-type shelters on the smaller stations.

It wasn't all doom and gloom, though, for we also saw how new lighting and platform services had transformed Eggesford, and how life had been brought to Crediton by the opening of the Tea Rooms. Nevertheless, we were reminded of the shortcomings of our trains, with pictures of seats unrelated to windows, inadequate space for luggage, pushchairs and cycles, and of the mind-blowing complications of our timetables.

David and John then compared the Tarka Line with comparable lines in Germany and Slovenia, and a great many eyes were opened.

The difference in standards was immense. Well-lit stations, often well-staffed and open for fifteen hours each day; clock-face timetables operating every day, all year round; comfortable trains with good window visibility; well-designed space for bicycles and luggage. The examples were endless. There was even a station litter bin with separate comparments for different types of recyclable rubbish. It all left us in no doubt of why we need to strike out on The Way Ahead.

Fortunately, David and John have been persuaded to make this presentation again - at Crediton; see elsewhere in this issue - so see it if you can. It contains a great deal for all who are concerned with transport matters to think about.

Hugh Butterworth

When Things Go Wrong Over the last few months, the Group has been sent a few letters describing the experiences of members of the public - not always NDRUG members - when travelling upon the railway. I have summarised edited versions of the letters in order to provide examples of what can happen to passengers when things go wrong.

The first concerns Mrs H Christophers of Newton Abbot. On 15th October 2001, Mrs Christophers and her husband were travelling from Paddington to Newton Abbot, understanding that they would have to change at Exeter St. Davids. Arriving at Exeter 35 minutes late they got out and '...asked a member of staff which platform should we take for our connection and were told "It's just there across the platform, ready to go off." We got on the train together with a young man. As we got on I noticed that the platform signal also confirmed the 13.33 destination Paignton. ...As the train started we realised that we were going in the wrong direction. The ticket collector said something like, "0h, not again!" Arriving at Crediton Mr and Mrs Christopher and, it so happens, the young man, were obliged to wait 1½ hours for the train to return from Barnstaple and take them on to Exeter They arrived horne many hours late having come all the way from the Baltic - without a hitch - only to fall at the last fence - on a local railway in Devon!

Bearing in mind many other examples of this problem, only partly rectified by alterations in the platforming arrangements at Exeter St. David's, together with the proposed improvements in operating flexibility envisaged under the new SRA report, the operating companies at the station must ensure that passengers are not confronted by ambiguous platform departure information. I have witnessed three trains at one platform simultaneously, with conflicting information given by the two platform indicators provided. The mathematics, here, simply doesn't work.

The second incident was experienced by Barrie Britton, an NDRUG member. Leaving Preston two hours late, it was inevitable that he would miss his connection at Exeter. Upon arrival, however, the Train Manager arranged for a taxi to Barnstaple, eschewing Mr Britton's offer of waiting for a following train in order to enable the taxi to carry further passengers to North Devon. Mr Britton states '...we need a later train to leave Central at, say, 23.00.' In addition, this, Mr Britton states, would enable him to make an estimated further 50 journeys a year to Exeter and return depending, as these journeys do, on a late departure time from Devon's capital.

Whilst I have sympathy for Mr Britton's position - and, indeed, we have argued for a later train in The Way Ahead, at around 22.00

there will always by an inherent problem militating against the provision of a train as late as 23.00, namely; the need, either for that train to return to Exeter, arriving well after 01.00, and not being at all well patronised on the return journey, or the provision of a crew and rolling stock depot at Barnstaple, a requirement, I would think, well off the bottom of any TOCs list of priorities. So, I think we are stuck - at least as far as 23.00 is concerned - unless anyone has other suggestions to offer.

The third concerns member Mrs J Hipsey from Plymouth, and a fellow passenger. An incompatible situation arose at Barnstaple due to the early closing of the toilets, coincident with the scheduled arrival of a train from Exeter. Staff could not comply with a request to reopen the toilets beyond their allotted time, because of the need to close the station.

Much has been said in the past of the inadequacies of the station - and toilet - opening times at Barnstaple. A reply from Wales and West's Cardiff office, to a letter from Miss Hipsey, mentioned that problems were '...presently owing to the staffing shortages at Barnstaple Station.' Has anyone seen any advertisements for jobs at the station? I thought, perhaps erroneously, that staff shortages had been imposed by Wales and West. Am I wrong?

The toilets are, in summer, much used, and abused, by cyclists and other non-rail users, and difficulties can arise. The problem ought to be subject to local authority notice, since difficulties evidently do not rest solely with railway use, and I think moves may be afoot in this area: if we discover anything, we'll let you know.

David Gosling

ACoRP, TR&IN and Rolling Stock Design The Transport Research and Information Network (TR&IN) and the Association of Community-Rail partnerships (ACoRP) together act as a conference arranging, information disseminating, rail partnership co-ordinating, advisory, and rail-based promotional organisation, operating from the Brian Jackson Centre, Huddersfield.

ACoRP is a national federation of over twenty-five fowl community rail partnerships. These (like our own Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership); 'are a means by which stakeholders along the rail corridor can play an active role in the development of a responsive and good quality rail service. They bring togethertrain operators, rail infrastructure companies, fowl authorities, development and tourist agencies, community groups (that's us), and other, locally based bodies.'

ACoRP provides the following services: disseminating examples of good practice and learning from examples abroad arranging seminars and developing networks publishing information material for partnerships organising training events for ACoRP members providing support in the development of rim partnerships providing briefings to members on issues of interest influencing the national rural policy agenda developing innovative approaches to the operation and management of rural railways supporting sustainable local development in rural communities Their activities cover a wide base and, in an attempt to find out more about them, issues 1 and 2 of their new electronic newsletter, 'TR&IN ON LINE and the ACoRP Argus' were downloaded from the Net and perused with interest. There was too much on offer to summarise here, though I was particularly interested to read one item relating to rolling stock design.

Under the sub-heading 'New trains for rural railways' I was informed that: 'ACoRP is looking at a specification for a new train for use on the rural network - a quality successor to the Pacer and Sprinter, learning from good practice abroad We would be interested to hear from anyone with suggestions for what should go into such a spec. Our ideas would be discussed with TOCs, manufacturers, rolling stock leasing companies and the SRA. We would stress this is a long-term project, and options include refurbishment of existing trains, cascading of surplus trains from inter-regional services, as well as new build.'

My first reaction was to reflect that it would be difficult for any successor to a Pacer or Sprinter to provide a worse environment for any long-suffering passenger. We are particularly interested in the rolling stock provision on our own line and I nurse an especially bewildered astonishment that some of these trains could ever have been built at all, so unwelcoming are they, and so unsuitable for some of the uses to which they have often been allocated - Exeter to Barnstaple for instance.

I have always felt that the internals of rolling stock offer such a wonderful opportunity for designers to show how good a railway carriage can be, but am constantly astounded to discover just how badly designed they actually are! That the term 'designed' should be allocated to some examples of the breed defeats me completely. And our Secretary, too, would have something to say about 'good practice abroad'. Perhaps we should stick our oar in here; certainly Dr Paul Salveson, ACoRP's executive director (and NDRUG member), will receive a copy of The Way Ahead and so at least will be informed of the Group's official opinion on the subject!

Further details may be obtained by contacting: The Association of Community Rail Partnerships Brian Jackson Centre New North Parade Huddersfield HD1 5JP For those of you with the necessary technology, more information is available on: http://www.platfom8.demon.co.uk or http://www.acorp.uk.com I recently spoke to Neil Buxton, ACoRP's Development Officer. He has offered to come along, later in the year, and address the Group on the workings and functions of his organisation. We will inform you when a date has been set.

David Gosling

The David and John Show Goes On Tour Following the success (or so I'm told) of our one night performance at the AGM at Barnstaple in November last year, John Gulliver and I recently gave a cut-down version of the presentation to members of Crediton Town Council, emphasising the need for them to contact the SRA and impress upon them the views of those who use the line Devonians. For it is all too, too easy to sit back and wait to see what those in control of the money - situated far removed and out of touch - am willing to provide, instead of insisting that those who are affected by their decisions should have their needs accommodated.

The Town Council were, I should say, enthusiastically sympathetic to our views, and, after the clearing up of some points of discussion, indicated that they would make their opinion known to the SRA. This is most encouraging and will help greatly in our efforts to make the SRA aware that there's a line in the West Country that runs from Exeter to Barnstaple: it's still there; it's important, and we want it improved!

John and I will be giving a further performance(?) of our presentation, The Way Ahead, at Crediton Station Tea Rooms on Tuesday 19th March in order that those of you living in the southern part of the county (both members and non-members) can have an opportunity to see for yourselves what all the fuss is about. The presentation features a detailed exposition, complemented and elucidated by slides organised by John, of the stance the committee has taken in working out the Group's policy specified in our recently published statement.

After the presentation there will be an opportunity to contribute your own views: the committee needs to know if we have got it right!

This is a special meeting convened to explain our position and provide for an "Change of ideas. It starts at 19.15, at The Station Tea Rooms, Crediton, on Tuesday 19th March. Please come along and help support our efforts. Refreshments will be provided.

The timing of the meeting is designed to coincide with the arrival (at 19.07) of the 18.14 from Barnstaple, and will be completed in time for the 20.45 return.

David Gosling

Better Than Half Full...

Just before the recent publication of the SRA's strategic plan for the railways, local newspapers were predicting a grim future for the North Devon line. When the plan came out, their worst predictions turned out to be false. Nonetheless, at least one widely-circulating paper continued to portray the plan in the blackest terms. What follows is a letter written by the Secretary to the paper concerned to try restore a more balanced perspective: Very recently, the glass was empty. It appeared that we would have no rail service to North Devon. We would have to make do with buses instead. Now, with the publication of the SRA's ten year plan for the railways, the glass has turned out to be much better than half full. We will keep our North Devon line trains. There will be a clock-face, hourly service, i.e., trains will leave Exeter and Barnstaple at a set time each hour throughout the day. We'll almost be able to throw away the timetables.

The trains will link into much improved cross country and London services at Exeter, also running at regular intervals. Waiting times, the bugbear of present arrangements, will be drastically cut. It's increasingly likely that through services between Barnstaple and Waterloo will soon be operating.

In all, if all this comes to fruition, North and Central Devon will have its best rail service since Beeching. None of this is happening by chance. If it is there in the SRA's plans, it is largely because people in the area have pressed for it. Three groups have been especially involved: local councils, from parish to County level, well supported by our MPs; the Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership, which continues to work for better local services throughout the county; and last but not least, the transport pressure groups, such as Railfuture and our own North Devon Rail Users Group. All have worked tirelessly to secure these developments. Each will warmly welcome them.

Why, then, is the glass still not completely full? Firstly, the changes are still some way off. Substantial improvements in the infrastructure of the North Devon line will be needed to carry the enhanced service and to protect it from the worst threats of flooding. Given what has to be spent on the rest of the rail network, it will be all too easy for the cupboard to be bare before the line gets its share. The need for lobbying by councils and rail user groups does not cease with the publication of this plan.

It continues, urgently.

Secondly, there's more to a rail service than the timetable. There's no indication in the plan of proposals to upgrade the trains on the North Devon line to better suit today's and tomorrows users. Where is the rolling stock which affords everyone a full view of our magnificent countryside, or which makes the carriage of luggage, push chairs, wheel chairs, bicycles and even surfboards easy? This, too, must still be pressed for, especially in the run up to re-franchising. So, too, must the improvement of our stations. Barnstaple's remains a disgrace. Crediton's, on the other hand, shows what can be done with old buildings.

The efforts of the Rail Partnership to this end need continuing support. Finally, we need evidence of a vision that is wider and for the longer term. This must include thinking about integration at local level between rail and other forms of transport, and between trains and buses especially. It calls for thought about how rail and bus can best serve the expanding conurbation of Barnstaple, Bideford and Braunton. It needs to look beyond the North Devon line to see how Okehampton could become the natural railhead for North Cornwall. The strategic plan represents a good start. Only continuing pressure will ensure that it is carried through and built on further.

John Gulliver

Readers Write

What's The Railway For? (1) Aside from its basic role as a transport mode, it seems to me the railway today is one of the leaders, if not the principal one, in the fight for the environment.

There is no question that the ill-balanced and fatuous growth of road transport since Beeching has altered much of the fabric of this country for the worse and I see little sign of this slowing down. I am not only thinking of those now well-worn (hence becoming less potent) issues of 'pollution' and 'congestion', but of the sheer ugliness which road expansion has produced - the clutter of street furniture, bizarre road markings, hideous car parks, the flood of juggernaut lorries produced by the joint efforts of the EU and the supermarket system, night long road lighting at every intersection, all a strain on the eyes, nerves and human system generally. One could go on.

The situation in North Devon, as with much of the country, is now quite ridiculous with conditions approximating to those of London fifty years ago, but without its alternative transport facilities.

A situation that no amount of road works can cure - they never do, merely spread it around more until it fills up again, like a beggar coming back for more money after spending what he had.

It is equally ridiculous that North Devon (which continues to grow at a frightening rate) should only have a fragile branch line connection to the main rail system. Upgrading is called for.

Restoration of the direct Taunton route is the real answer but a lot to hope for in the way this country is being run.

John Hillier

What's The Railway For? (2) Thanks for the interesting and enjoyable magazine. As regards the above question, there must be more than one answer. On a personal level, I used to work for the Southern Region in the 60s, so any remaining parts of the system are part of my heritage and memory and I, therefore, want them to survive and prosper. Part of my 'roots', I suppose. But looking forward rather than back, I still feel that public transport, including rail, is going to have an increasing role to play in the future, and it is vital that existing facilities are nurtured and improved if possible. This can only happen if it seems worthwhile to those who are the 'influencers' and decision takers. So both fare box receipts and numbers of passengers carried are going to have an impact on future decisions. And as a greater part of the population becomes elderly (and I'm getting there quickly), I wonder if proportionately more people will be without cars in future?

David Clegg

What's The Railway For? (3) Very much enjoyed the newsletter - lots of news and action - well done, especially on The Way Ahead report.

I was going to write to the SRA and franchise bidders about the Tarka Line railcard, which seems a very good idea, but don't have the addresses. Hope you will provide them.

In my view, by the way, the railway should be carrying more and more people, helping to cut road traffic as well as providing for those without their own transport. It should be a very vital public service run for the benefit of the local community and with a big community say in how it is run, not just a profit making enterprise. Through ticketing with easy transfer between bus and train, as well as between trains, is essential to this.

Linda Lever The previous letter, an E-mail, was received before details of the Devon Railcard became known; details of the Railcard have been enclosed with this issue. With regard to writing to franchise bidders, I am still waiting for the SRA to confirm who those bidders are! David Gosling Parking Charges at Tiverton Parking at Tiverton Parkway a year ago (after a gap of some time), I was shocked to find the charge had been increased to ÂŁ3.10 per day, which adds quite a lot if one is away for even 5 or 6 days. I do clearly remember when the station was opened ('87?) that, together with the North Devon link road, the aim was to provide the area with better communication'. Perhaps it was policy to make more use of the Barnstaple to Exeter line, losing, for the passenger, better journey times on some routes. I would be interested in any comments on this.

Pat Walters It is always very gratifying to receive post from our members, this issue, in particular, being enhanced by much correspondence.

Some of this has been printed, as here, in the form of lettens, whereas other examples have given substance to articles or have been published as articles in their own right. This shows that the membership reads what is written, cares enough to contribute, relieves the regulars of the need to burn much midnight oil, and obviates the need to mad the meanderings of the same old names! It also provides new and valuable perspectives on those issues which concern us all. Please keep it up.