Anyone with Ideas About Improving the Train Service to Topsham and Exmouth Is Invited To

Press Release

Date: 12 th March 2013 for immediate use

Rail Users back Councils’ report

A Devon passenger group is backing a report by South West local councils calling on Government to recognise the importance of railways to the economy of the far South West.

The report has been put together by the five county and unitary authorities in Devon, Cornwall and Somerset following recent flooding, when the far South West was cut off from the rest of the country. It complains of a lack of investment compared to other regions and constant under- forecasting of passenger demand by the rail industry. The result is too few trains, ageing rolling stock and overcrowding.

Tony Day, Chairman of the Avocet Line Rail Users Group, welcomed the report. “A lot of us in the region have been saying these things for a while, so it is good that the local authorities have got together to exert some political clout for the region. We wrote to Government ourselves just last week to express concerns that abandoning the new proposed Great Western rail franchise will lead to delays in much needed improvements.”

“We were hopeful that that a new, longer, franchise would see investment in new trains – we simply cannot wait until electrification elsewhere allows yet another fleet of hand me down diesel trains to be cascaded to the South West. Passenger numbers are growing fast – up nearly 10% last year on our line alone; we need more trains to avoid severe overcrowding and people left behind.”

“The new franchise promised other improvements too, including more trains to Exmouth on Sundays. We don’t want these put on hold for two years whilst Government sorts out a new franchise, so we are asking that First Great Western be told to provide the extra services that local authorities have agreed are necessary.”

1 Information for editors:

1. The Avocet Line Rail Users Group, formed in 2007, has recruited over 200 members. It represents passengers on the line, which includes stations at Exeter Central, St James Park, Polsloe Bridge, Digby & Sowton, Topsham, Exton, Lympstone Commando, Lympstone Village and Exmouth.

2. The group wrote to Community Rail Minister Norman Baker on 6th March. A copy of the letter is attached.

3. The South West Spine: The Case for Greater Investment across the South West Peninsula Railway Network was published on Thursday 7 March jointly by Cornwall Council, Devon County Council, Plymouth City Council, Somerset County Council and Torbay Council. A copy can be found online at www.avocetline.org.uk/

For further information contact:

Diana Hurfurt Phone: 07739 373712

2 THE AVOCET LINE RAIL USERS GROUP

Representing rail passengers’ interests between Exeter and Exmouth

Chairman: Tony Day Secretary: Mike Reddaway

6th March 2013

Dear Norman Baker

It was good to meet you when you visited Exeter on 8th January to present me with a formal letter designating the Avocet line from Exeter to Exmouth as a Community Rail line. The Avocet Line Rail Users’ Group (ALRUG), which I chair, was heartened by your encouraging words.

Since we met, journey figures for 2012 have been published by the Devon & Cornwall Community Rail Partnership. These show growth on our line in the past year of 9.7% - well above the national and regional averages. The figure for January this year is considerably greater, I am told.

Passenger growth on this line, as on many others in the South West, is resulting in people frequently standing – and sometimes being left behind. First Great Western have been diligent and creative in acquiring every spare piece of rolling stock, but there are just no more diesel multiple units available anywhere; the promised cascade of diesel trains following electrification is a long time away, and the electric trains have not even been ordered yet.

You will have seen on your visit the elderly rolling stock operating out of Exeter. At an average age of over 30 years, First Great Western’s diesel trains are the oldest in the country. Most of them, including all those in the Exeter area, are not equipped for people with disabilities.

Until it was abandoned, the specification for the new Greater Western Franchise gave us considerable hope. Not only did it offer bidders the freedom to procure new diesel trains, perhaps in conjunction with others, to meet what is a growing problem in other parts of the country as well, but it held out the prospect of continuing improvements to our services from the start of the new franchise.

Important among these improvements were the priced options that local authorities had requested. On our line, Devon County Council had suggested a half hourly service on Sundays, which is also the first priority of the new Avocet Community Rail Line Forum, embracing many local stakeholders.

ALRUG has taken passenger counts that show that, outside the rush hour, Sunday is as busy or busier than other days, yet the service frequency is only hourly on Sundays (half hourly Monday – Saturday). The Community Rail Development Fund, with match funding from Devon County Council, paid for a pilot half hourly Sunday service for six weeks before Christmas: passenger counts showed a 27% increase in usage during the trial period and we believe the potential is there for much more.

It would be most regrettable if such promised improvements are put on hold for two years as a result of difficulties with the franchising process.

3 In summary we would ask that, when reaching agreement with the train operator on a contract for the next two years, the Department for Transport includes the early implementation of at least those priced options from the original specification that do not require additional rolling stock. (A half hourly Sunday service on the Avocet Line falls into this category.) We would also urge steps to address the growing problem of rolling stock availability.

Yours sincerely

Tony Day

Chairman Avocet Line Rail Users Group