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SALISBURY TO RAIL USERS GROUP

(SERUG )

Newsletter No:14 March 2021.

Supporting the stations of: Tisbury, Gillingham, , Sherborne, Junction, , , , Feniton, , Cranbrook, Pinhoe, Exeter Central.

Thoughts from the Chair

As ever, I hope this finds you all well. Although we are still “locked down”, vaccination delivery has been excellent, and no doubt many who read this newsletter will have received their first dose or maybe about to. This does allow us to think ahead, and trust that we can move forward to enjoy those things that we used to do, as of right. The Boris roadmap out of this pandemic is set out, so we all hope that the situation continues to improve. Patience is required, and I am close to running out of that!

Our thanks go to the teams at SWR and for their forbearance and for keeping the network moving – even without passengers.

All this could soon include us taking a journey by rail again, and we are told to be patient (that word again), but as soon as the country starts to reduce restrictions, the Government and our Scientists must pick up the carbon agenda and start promoting a return to public transport.

Your Committee have spent some time exploring the post pandemic position for the West of Line, SWR, Network Rail, and our passengers. This is set against a background of what we perceive will be a Government that will be very short of cash. However, obtaining benefits and investment for our railways has never been a quick route, and to throw in the towel now, after we have worked so hard and gained so much, would be just plain wrong. We are told that we must build back better, but no doubt politics will be countered by economics.

Whimple Station. Then and now. Re-instating the double track in this area is essential if Metro is to flourish.

Part of building back better will mean decarbonisation. We support that policy as it is better for passengers and the economy as well as the environment. This should be reflected with all our stakeholders as well: the Councils, LEPs, MPs, passenger groups, Train Operating Companies (SWR), and indeed Network Rail.

So, attached to this newsletter are copies of our revised objectives, both in detail and as a quick-read summary. They also appear on our website www.serug.co.uk. We ask that you make all your friends, families,

1 contacts and associated businesses aware of these objectives. We are starting from a lower base than a year ago – given that we currently have a very sparse service, hardly any through trains to and no on-train catering. Your help in distributing our message is absolutely vital.

At the moment we have a 2 hourly service Exeter – (and return) with a single through train to Waterloo (a very early start from Exeter at 05.10 and return from Waterloo at 21.35 to Yeovil Junction)). We cannot take for granted that DfT will reinstate our through services from Exeter to London Waterloo, or that we will get investment to improve resilience and services, or replace our old trains with comfortable, fully corridor linked carriages with refreshments available – we will have to lobby hard for these matters. You may question whether the infrastructure improvements that we have long lobbied for are still valid…. Please read the sections on Rail Recovery and Performance (below) for our thoughts….

We have been asked recently to consider helping with the improvements required at Salisbury Station. Our thoughts on what may be required are also included in the Appendix at the end of this Newsletter. We are working with Nick Farthing from Three Rivers who is considering setting up a Friends of Salisbury Station group in due course.

We must work harder with local communities to get passengers back on to the railway, and we see our station representatives with a positive and important role in doing just that. In addition, SWR are in the process of negotiating a Direct Award with DfT at the moment and we wish them well in their deliberations (their update is on page 6).

So, please review our new post pandemic Objectives, and let us know if you have any comments or questions. Most importantly, please help us deliver them by forwarding this Newsletter to your own groups of friends and businesses. Simply put, we will need all the help you can give us, whilst we exit this pandemic.

We have no further news about further funding from HM Treasury to Network Rail for the Line Study proposals – but its contents and recommendations are as valid now as they were then. We need this line to be resilient, trains to run on time, be able to deliver Devon Metro services, be a diversionary route for GWR services and freight when required. None of this has changed due to the pandemic and all those matters remain firmly at the core of our Objectives.

Repeat note for information - The Department for Transport (DfT) now run the service provision, not South Western Railway (SWR), now working under ERMA - Emergency Recovery Measures Agreement. No longer does SWR have the final say on how the railway is operated, the DfT now does that! SWR are negotiating for a new service agreement called a Direct Award (DA). This may or may not (cynical me) be affected if the Wiiliams Review ever sees the light of day.

We just do not know how much longer the Treasury will continue to support the railway service on this basis. The cost (UK wide) is about £800m a month - which works out at around £18,000 per minute! The huge concern is that the current service levels (2 hourly Exeter Salisbury only, with no catering) could remain. As Nick Hurrell said in Newsletter No. 12, “use it or lose it.”

Our membership grew very well until the pandemic arrived, but unsurprisingly, renewals have declined over the past year. We really need your continued interest and help, and your subscription of £6 for the year would help us to continue our work. The Committee don’t charge for any expenses or their time, but we need funds for print costs when we are allowed to distribute hard copy Newsletters at stations again, room hire for our AGM, etc. Subscriptions were due 1st January 2021, so please renew (or join again!). Simply go to the Membership page on our website www.serug.co.uk

Bruce Duncan, Chair, SERUG March 3rd 2021

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Rail Recovery – Nick Hurrell

Rail now has two main competitors – the private car and Zoom. (Who had even heard of Zoom 12 months ago?). Post pandemic, people will travel – actually many of us want to, we are social animals! But the key question is whether enough of us will return to the railway in sufficient numbers to maintain the infrastructure in the long term.

The DfT, Treasury and the rail providers must think differently if passenger are to return. We must too. The three key issues appear to be:

• A decision is needed on who actually runs the railway • Rail fares are often thought to be too expensive • There is a perception that rail travel is not COVID safe

A quiet Waterloo An even quieter Exeter Central

Who Runs the Railway?

It is acknowledged that the 3-way relationship between the DfT, Network Rail and the train companies is broken. The widely anticipated Review from Keith Williams on how the railways should be run is now some 18 months overdue, although we hear that it has been updated to include Covid recovery and is likely to be published shortly. With government influence it is becoming known as the Williams/Shapps Review.

Franchising, in its original form, has already disappeared and at last week’s National Rail Recovery Conference, Keith Williams highlighted how well the airline industry is able to adapt to change without Government influence, citing its successful recovery from major events such as 9/11, the Global Financial Crisis, Sars, etc. He hinted strongly that his report would propose moving much of the day to day running of the railways away from the DfT to a rail-focused overarching body. Although predicted for many months, this is the yet another confirmation yet that change is afoot. Put simply, he believes that the railways should be run by the people who understand how they work.

Fares Reform

Lobbying for fares reform features prominently in our revised objectives. The Treasury seem to think they can recover revenue by increasing fares by 2.6% this month. That is madness – it’s a dis-incentive to travel. Speak to anyone within the industry and you’ll see that they are keen for a complete reform of the fares system. We should also remember that many fares are “regulated” by the Government. Train Operators can only set the level of certain fares, such as advance tickets.

It is clear that post Covid, the £10bn per year revenue from fares is unlikely to return in full. Historically, up to 40% of that revenue came from season tickets, but that had already declined to closer to 20% pre-pandemic, and with daily commuting unlikely to return to previous levels, the case for flexible season tickets is now strong. There are also calls for account-based ticketing for regular travellers with a “per day” or “per week” cap on the maximum paid for given journeys.

But we need much more than more cost-effective Season Tickets. With forecasts that leisure travel will play a major part in recovering passenger numbers, a much simpler fares structure will be required to encourage these discerning travellers to use the railway. Passengers need confidence that they will always get the best fare available for their choice of journey. The prime example for our line is the cost of tickets to London…. someone needing to make a weekday trip from Yeovil Junction to London, arriving in the capital before 10am, will pay £128.40 return, unless they “know” the way around the fares system. The same flexible ticket can be had for £84.50 using a “split ticketing” technique – saving 34%. It is not right that you need to be a fares expert to get the best deal.

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Similarly, why are off-peak single tickets only a few pounds cheaper than a return? Why are they not half the price?

Is rail travel COVID Safe?

Pre-Covid, it was generally acknowledged that rail travel was 25 times safer than the car. It’s also acknowledged that rail is the most environmentally sustainable form of public transport. But the pandemic has driven these facts far down the considerations of how best to travel from A to B. Currently, the car wins hand down.

As we have said in previous Newsletters, research has shown that the chances of catching Covid on a train are extremely low. The train companies have also done a great job in ensuring their rolling stock is spotlessly clean. But social distancing concerns have caused some reluctance to return to rail. Car usage returned to pre-pandemic levels last summer as lockdown was eased but rail traffic barely reached 35% of its original level – and in the current lockdown, rail is now back down to around 15%, whilst car usage remains at a far higher level.

The Government is discouraging all travel currently – and certainly advising against using Public Transport. They recently made matters worse by picking out rail specifically with their unfortunate poster “Coronavirus travels on trains too” which gave the impression that travel on trains is unsafe.

The question on how we can prove that public transport is safe was put to Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Jonathan Van-Tam recently by Sir Peter Hendy (Chair Network Rail). JVT’s response effectively was: “Don’t bother, it’s not worth the effort. The vaccination programme will do it for you. It’ll be alright” There’s a lot of truth in that. We all want to start normal life again and the industry commissioning yet another survey to look into the safety of rail travel will have very little effect on public opinion. The people will decide when it’s safe – and that time is hopefully not too far away.

Performance and the continuing need for investment - Nick Hurrell

The performance target for the is for 89% of services to arrive within 5 minutes of their scheduled time. The reduced timetables since the first lockdown in March last year have allowed some interesting comparisons of performance for the different service frequencies…

Pre-Covid: (Full Timetable: Hourly service plus additional trains Salisbury/Yeovil and Axminster/Exeter) • Full year 2019 – average: 77.3% • 1 Jan – 22 March 2020: average 68.6% (This covers the last period that the “full” timetable operated and shows that services continued to perform badly)

The Covid “effect”: • 23 Mar 2020 – 6 Sept 2020: average 93.7% (2 hourly service operated, Exeter – Salisbury only) • 7 Sept 2020 – 10 Jan 2021: average 87.7% (Hourly service through to London, but no Exeter locals or additional Salisbury/Yeovil services, etc) • 11 Jan 2021 – 28 Feb 2021: average 92.3% (2 hourly service operated, Exeter – Salisbury only)

Our comments…

Comparing the 2019 full year average of 77.3% (full timetable) with the September 2020 to January 2021 average of 87.7% (hourly service), might lead us to think that the line can realistically cope with an hourly service in each direction without further investment. But it is also very clear that running anything more than an hourly service is a recipe for disaster.

The performance between January and March last year (68.6%) was particularly awful – primarily due to the poor weather - with the performance target hit on just 5 days out of 80!

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HOWEVER … there are 3 factors which confirm our view that the investment proposals suggested in last year’s West of England Line Study (Network Rail, April 2020) are still valid, irrespective of recent service frequency: 1. Devon Metro cannot be developed without extra infrastructure west of Axminster 2. GWR diversions cannot operate at anything close to a full timetable and can cause havoc to SWR services (the latest example was as recent as 27 February – see the Yeovil incident on page 7) 3. Extreme weather events are forecast to increase, flooding and line closures are inevitable.

This last point has become increasingly clear. As part of a recent presentation by Network Rail on the effects of climate change, they advised that 40% of their assets (track, stations, bridges, tunnels, etc) sit in medium/high risk flood zones. Moreover, their climate predictions show that what are currently seen as “extreme” weather events (outside their coping threshold) will become more frequent and current extreme weather events must therefore must form part of their BAU (Business as Usual) plans.

Great Western Diversions are commonplace along the Flooding on the railway. With forecasts that climate change Exeter to Yeovil section and can cause havoc with existing will see more extreme weather events, Network Rail’s SWR timetables. A Penzance-Paddington service at Resilience Plan aims cope better with these events. Exhibition Way, near Exeter, last month. Photo: Dave Tozer Photo: Network Rail

So, Network Rail’s Infrastructure Resilience Plan now includes the following:

“Have backup installations or spare capacity to enable operations to be diverted to alternative parts of the network in the event of disruptions to enable continuation of services.”

With this in mind, it’s very clear that capacity must be interchangeable on the two routes to Exeter (via both Taunton and Yeovil).

News from our neighbours

Devon County Council has funded a £16m a new station at Marsh Barton, on the GWR main line, south of St Thomas. It will be served by the -Exeter- trains. Proposals are also being made to re-open the station at Cullompton, north of Exeter.

Okehampton should also be back on the passenger network soon, after a £32m track upgrade, with services likely to run from through Exeter to Exmouth. This seems very much like a political win, and there is something to learn from that, as a Business Case study would surely not show a value for money result. Okehampton has a population of only 7,500, so passenger demand must be small.

Exmouth Junction’s track improvements are complete, so the original 25 mph speed limit for Exmouth trains is now 40 mph, with a banner repeater to enable faster running.

All in all, these are good first steps for what should be an excellent Devon Metro. Hopefully Devon County Council will push very hard with us and all other stakeholders, for the Whimple improvements recommended in Network Rail’s West of England Line proposals.

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East Devon stations – anniversary time (Martin Long). For everyone on the Line, 2021 is a year of anniversaries. Having celebrated the fifth birthday of Cranbrook Station last December, we are looking forward in May to commemorating 50 years since Junction re-opened as Feniton Station. It had closed in 1967 when the Sidmouth branch line closed, but following a short, sharp campaign by local people, the station reopened four years later.

Sadly, by then the original station building, designed by William Tite, had been demolished. This year we also remember 50 years since we lost the Victorian station building at Honiton, also designed by Tite.

And for those who look out for disused stations, this year also sees the centenary of the closure of a second, and now almost forgotten, station in Honiton, called Roundball Halt. The station opened in September 1906 about half a mile from the main station, to give soldiers access to the rifle range at Roundball Hill. It never appeared in timetables and was demolished early in 1921. No sign of the platforms now remain.

Do look at the excellent newsletter by the Friends of Honiton station, https://friendsofhonitonstation.org.uk/newsletter/index.html

Update from SWR (Andrew Ardley, Regional Development Manager). There are of course considerable changes on the horizon both at national and more local levels. The Government’s Integrated Rail Plan (IRP) White Paper is expected out shortly which clearly sits alongside the very significant budget pressures created by Covid-19. As we announced in December, SWR has agreed termination sums with the DfT for the existing franchise and we are now working constructively towards the introduction of a directly awarded management contract. If terms can be agreed within the challenging timeframe, it is expected the Direct Award will commence on 1 April for an initial term of two years, with the potential to extend by a further two years. What none of this changes is that the railway will be heavily reliant on Government funding for the next few years. This therefore means that the majority of spending decisions including fare changes will need to be agreed with DfT for the foreseeable future against the backdrop of tight national budgets. There is of course considerable work taking place nationally and within SWR to understand the medium and long term impacts of the accelerated changes created by Covid-19, not least the likely drop in regular commuting and business travel. There is general agreement that encouraging more leisure travel by rail is going to be key to a successful railway. It is also clear that we will have to work harder than ever alongside Network Rail to secure third party investment in railways, particularly at stations.

We are progressing a number of station improvements that we have already secured third party funding for (including DfT funds such as Cycle Rail) and I look forward to saying more about these in a future newsletter. You will hopefully have noticed that the majority of SWR stations on the West of England line have had LED lighting installed alongside the already completed free WiFi at all SWR stations. Feniton LED will be done by Network Rail as part of their CP6 station rewiring programme.

From a timetable point of view we are consulting with key secondary schools and colleges to ensure that the right services are in place to cater for students returning as and when Government confirms the arrangements. The current amended timetable will continue with tweaks for the student traffic until directed otherwise by DfT including announcements about relaxations of the national lockdown. We also have a close

6 working arrangement with Devon County Council and GWR for the Exeter end including the use of supplementary coaches where appropriate.

We continue to work closely with Network Rail and other stakeholders on various strategic planning pieces of work including Network Rail’s West of England Line Study, Strategic Study, to Exeter Strategic Study, Western Gateway and Peninsula Sub National Transport Body strategies and input into local plan consultations including Dorset, and East Devon.

As always, the support of SERUG and the many volunteers involved in station adoption groups and community rail partnerships is much appreciated by all at SWR.

Community Rail The various Community Rail Partnerships will play an important role in the Government’s “Building Back Better” programme. Better integration of rail with bus, cycling, walks must be encouraged along with more use of existing (underused) station buildings as community hubs. Similarly, with leisure traffic forecast to increase, promotion of local attractions and creating rail/local attraction offers must be developed.

Community Rail Contacts: • Blackmore Vale CRP (covering stations from Tisbury to Crewkerne). Contact: Caroline Rowland, Partnership Officer on 07933 212 117. • Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership - East Devon Line – including stations from Axminster to Exeter Central. Contact Richard Burningham on 01752 584777.

Station Groups Don’t forget that many stations also have a “Friends Of” group locally. Details can normally be found on station platforms or by searching Facebook, Google, or similar.

What were they thinking ? (1) Fiasco at Yeovil Junction – Saturday 27 February

One of the key recommendations made by Network Rail West of England Line Study is to extend the station loop westwards in order to allow longer trains (mainly GWR diversions) to pass. Here’s why….

On Saturday 27 February, there was an attempt to pass two GWR trains here. Quite why it was attempted is not clear, because it is known that the loop is not long enough! The Penzance to Paddington train was delayed 2 hours whilst the westbound express reversed back to Yeovil Pen Mill, passengers de-trained and the service cancelled!

Of course, this caused a number of SWR to be delayed or cancelled. Back to the single line at Yeovil Junction

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What were they thinking ? (2) We have an excellent relationship with Network Rail – and they’ve taken the opportunity to fix a number long-standing infrastructure issues, whilst traffic has been light – so all credit to them.

But we wonder whether the recent work at Whimple was really properly thought through?

This gate was installed (one at each end of the platform) in January. It has now been extended by a fixed panel toward the edge, but stops short by about a metre. The gates are held shut by a sliding bolt but neither bolts nor locks were in place when inspected last week. There is nothing to stop Whimple station platform Photo: David Mansfield people simply walking around (or currently, through them) !

More History… Bruce Duncan shares some additional historical notes about Yeovil’s 3 stations. Yeovil Junction, with Waterloo – Salisbury - Exeter services by SWR, and Yeovil Pen Mill with GWR Bristol / Westbury / Weymouth still operate today. Pre-pandemic, SWR connected the two stations by running some Yeovil Junction to Salisbury services via Pen Mill and Westbury. Yeovil Town closed in 1966. In 1962 it had 76 daily services of which 26 were shuttles to Yeovil Junction or Pen Mill. These declined following the demise of steam from 1965, and limped on with a railbus until October 1966. The service between Pen Mill and Taunton service was originally GWR Broad Gauge and closed in 1964 for passenger trains. The Yeovil Town site is now the leisure complex and car park. Yeovil Town had a largish shed and Yeovil Junction a turntable as well, with Pen Mill having a small overnight shed (GWR based) but that closed in 1959. In 1932, Yeovil Town had direct services to Eastleigh, Salisbury, Ilfracombe, , Templecombe, Waterloo, Salisbury, Exeter and Taunton, plus local shuttles to Junction and Pen Mill. Interestingly, eastbound trains (towards Salisbury), left Yeovil Town tender first and the loco then ran around at Yeovil Junction.

Yeovil Town station and shed - 1964 Former Yeovil -Taunton trackbed..Now the Cartgate link to A303

Yeovil Junction was a busy station in its heyday with 4 platform faces and two through lines, used by key long distance services such as the famous “ACE” – The . Freight services are logged in 1958 as having 33 movements daily including some for motive power coal. That did not include passing freight or those stopping just for water. Interestingly there is still the original transfer shed, on the south side, now the home of Yeovil Steam Centre. This was a Broad Gauge structure but with the facility to transfer goods to standard gauge vans/trucks. How times have changed, but occasionally a freight will pass through as diverted from the GWR Exeter/Taunton/Castle Cary route.

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The map below (with thanks to Geof Sheppard) shows the three stations and some historical details.

2021: Exeter – Salisbury by South West Railway, Castle Cary – Weymouth by GWR.

Finally, a bit of Yeovil nostalgia – see right…

How I would love a direct route from Yeovil to Taunton and its connections…

Yeovil Pen Mill shed - closed January 1959. Line to the right to Town, left to Junction and Weymouth

SERUG’s aim is to lobby the Government, Network Rail, Train Operators and others to improve the passenger experience on the West of England Line..

If you’d like to help, Bruce Duncan (Chair) or Nick Hurrell (Secretary) would be pleased to hear from you. Email: [email protected] Membership is £6 per year – includes regular updates, and reduced admission to events.

Look us up on Facebook, or complete the form on our website www.serug.co.uk or https://sites.google.com/view/serug

SERUG is affiliated with Railfuture – a not for profit organisation which campaigns for a better railway in Britain

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Appendix

SALISBURY STATION AND STAKEHOLDER NOTES – Initial Thoughts

Salisbury station is confined by its physical land occupation, historically confined buildings, poor physical access and a poor presence for the city.

Future development of the station should consider how the railway would

• Be an environmentally friendly transport hub • Cope with increase in services (especially Trans Wilts) • Provide a better passenger experience • Improve service connectivity and resilience

All these mean a long-term strategy for Salisbury station.

The parties involved are Network Rail, , , South Western Railway, , and stakeholders.

Care should be taken to ensure that the passenger experience is high when rail travel returns. In no particular order, our initial thoughts prior to potentially starting a Friends of Salisbury station passenger group, are as follows:

Station Public Transport links • Bus, better bus access and connection facilities are required. • as a destination, involves passenger improvements and a working visitor concept. • Local car, cycle, and pedestrian routes could be improved. • Taxi, and short stay and drop off, and collection zones improved. Car parking and cycle • Car Parks are inadequate currently on the South side (287 spaces + 4 disabled). Multi storey possible, but limited by poor road infrastructure. • North side – if comprehensive development allows, a new multi-storey car park could be facilitated. See also Depot below.

Station facilities/operation. • New north entrance with car parking plus transport hub, and access. • Use of platforms 1 and 5 made fully operational. • Four track bidirectional working for all four through platforms. • Bi-directional working Salisbury station to Laverstock Junction and Wilton Junction. All with permissive working. • Replacement/renewal of SSI as part of the signalling. • Entry and exit from depot to access all 4 through platforms directly. • Acceptance of longer and more frequent freight traffic including 775m lengths.

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New Rolling stock Depot • The existing 158/159 rolling stock will require replacement and hence a new depot, constructed on a site that allows parallel working and efficiency during construction. A new depot on the south side (ex engine shed site), appears available. • After completion the north site has alternative uses, eg residential, car parking, transport hub facilities, etc, subject to land use and access limitations. Wilton station?

• Joint GWR/SWR station may be proposed, but SERUG, with limited factual knowledge, cannot understand a positive benefit for a Wilton South platform (ie SWR connection). • Park & Ride and Stonehenge link, could be available but a better hub at Salisbury would be a better service option. Great Western Railway

• Possible increase in service levels to 30-minute intervals, Bristol -/. Trans Wilts • Possible new /Westbury/Salisbury/Southampton services, not much known about these and no business case known. It appears that track formation changes and full new signalling would be required to ensure resilient SWR and GWR service patterns, also with the locals, are maintained. SWR Salisbury to Exeter • Resilient services are required, with a timetabled connectivity for passenger connections with GWR services. The key is resilience, accepting that GWR services can also be subject to service delays. • The split of Bristol services requires care. SWR Salisbury to Waterloo • Return of commuter services, passenger numbers may be down on pre-pandemic levels, but will form a high proportion of Salisbury station traffic. Extra path required for SWR Main Line improvements. Decarbonisation • NR have reported on this topic and the section from to Salisbury may be suitable, and indeed positively suitable, for electrification? The issues however are complex, especially with freight flows (Southampton/Laverstock Junction/Andover/ ). • New rolling stock for SWR services will give opportunities, possibly bi-mode, with good passenger experience including comfortable seating, through corridor connections, wifi, more luggage space, buffet/trolley service. Possibly could be shared with other TOCs (eg GWR)?

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