September 2021 Newsletter
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The Train at Pla,orm 1 The Friends of Honiton Staon Newsle9er 18 - September 2021 Welcome to the September newsle1er. The announcement of South Western Railway’s 2022 Timetable consultaon gave everyone involved with our local railway an opportunity to have their say. The detailed specificaon document issued will form the basis of SWR’s future plans, and so it was vital that we took up the chance to respond to what they had to say. Along with our colleagues at SERUG, we have sent SWR a detailed reply on the behalf of all our members. Our response is summarised below. We will keep members and supporters updated in the months ahead. Milton Keynes, London Birmingham and the North Victoria Watford Junction London Brentford Waterloo Syon Lane Windsor & Shepherd’s Bush Eton Riverside Isleworth Hounslow Kew Bridge Kensington (Olympia) Datchet Heathrow Chiswick Vauxhall Airport Virginia Water Sunnymeads Queenstown Egham Barnes Bridge Wraysbury Road Longcross Whitton TwickenhamSt. MargaretsRichmondNorth Sheen BarnesPutneyWandsworthTown Sunningdale Clapham Junction Staines Ashford Feltham Mortlake Wimbledon Earlsfield Martins Heron Strawberry Ascot Hill Tramlink Raynes Park Bracknell Wokingham Winnersh Triangle SheppertonUpper HallifordSunbury Kempton ParkHampton Fulwell Teddington Hampton WickKingston Norbiton New Oxford, Birmingham Winnersh and the North Hampton Court Malden Thames Ditton Berrylands Chertsey Surbiton Malden Motspur Reading to Gatwick Airport Esher Earley Bagshot ChessingtonTolworthManor Park Hersham Addlestone Walton-on- South Wales, Birmingham Bath, Bristol, South Wales Crowthorne Thames and the North and the West Country Reading Camberley Hinchley North Worcester Beckenham Oldfield Park Park Junction Trowbridge Byfleet & Wood Keynsham Bradford- Reading West Bath Spa Westbury Brookwood Weybridge on-Avon Sandhurst Frimley New Haw Stoneleigh Elmers End Newbury Claygate Chessington Ewell Farnborough West Byfleet South New Mortimer Blackwater West Bristol West East Addington Bramley Woking Temple Meads Oxshott Croydon Croydon Frome Epsom Warminster Farnborough North Worplesdon Bruton Bristol Airport Templecombe Fleet Ashtead Whitchurch Cobham & AxminsterCrewkerne Castle Cary Gillingham Salisbury Winchfield Ash Vale Stoke D’Abernon Taunton Honiton Tisbury Grateley Andover Overton Yeovil Ash London Road Leatherhead Bus Station Yeovil (Guildford) Clandon Horsley Pen Mill Basingstoke North Camp Box Hill & Hook Wanborough Aldershot Effingham Bookham Westhumble Guildford Junction Dorking Redhill Okehampton Feniton Yeovil Sherborne Micheldever Tiverton Junction Farnham and North Devon Whimple Dean Chandler’s Ford Farncombe Shalford Chilworth Gomshall Dorking Dorking BetchworthReigate Parkway Winchester West (Deepdene) Cranbrook Mottisfont & Shawford Bentley Godalming Dunbridge Southampton Gatwick Pinhoe Airport Parkway Eastleigh Alton Milford Airport Exeter Exeter Central St. Denys Witley St. Davids Swaythling The Three Southampton Crawley Bridges Bitterne Hedge End Watercress Haslemere Paignton, Central Line Plymouth and Exmouth Romsey Woolston Liphook Millbrook Town Horsham Penzance Alresford Liss Redbridge Quay Sholing Exeter Airport Billingshurst Totton Netley Botley Petersfield Thornford Ashurst (New Forest) Rowlands Castle Pulborough Haywards Hamble Heath Beaulieu Road Bursledon Brockenhurst Havant Arundel Eastbourne, Hythe Swanwick Hastings, Yetminster Sway Bedhampton Portchester Barnham Worthing Hove Ashford International Bournemouth New Milton Chichester and the South East Hinton Admiral Fareham Shoreham Airport Cosham Hilsea Christchurch Bognor Regis Littlehampton Brighton Chetnole Pokesdown for Boscombe Lymington Town Fratton Bournemouth Gosport Portsmouth & Branksome Lymington Pier Maiden Cowes Southsea Newton Parkstone Portsmouth Harbour Poole Ryde Pier Head Southsea Hoverport Network Map Hamworthy Isle of Ryde Esplanade Connections to: Holton Heath Yarmouth Wight Wareham Ryde St. Johns Road Other services London Underground Dorchester Wool Isle of Wight Steam Railway Smallbrook To France & Spain Bus links London Overground West Moreton Junction Wootton Ferry links and Tramlink Dorchester Brading South Swanage To Channel Islands Hovercraft links Upwey Railway Sandown Weymouth Swanage & France Heritage Railways Lake Shanklin Ventnor South Western Railway Consults on New December 2022 Timetable As we reported last month, SWR has launched a major consultaon exercise ahead of the December 2022 metable. As part of the consultaon, they have issued a detailed specificaon document, accompanied by a set of quesons to stakeholders. The Salisbury to Exeter Rail Users Group (SERUG) and The Friends of Honiton Staon have responded to the consultaon, based on feedback from members. The document stated that: “The West of England routes serve staons west of Basingstoke, towards Exeter. It includes areas at one of the edges of our network and therefore there is some overlap with services operated by other providers, parcularly Great Western Railway (GWR). The new specificaon provides an opportunity to look at these areas of overlap, in the interests of efficiency and effecveness." “The core service on the West of England line is two trains per hour from London Waterloo to Salisbury with alternate services extending through to Exeter St Davids. We have removed a small number of lightly used off-peak services between Salisbury and Yeovil (via Sherborne). These changes reduce the number of services over the congested single line secons between Salisbury and Yeovil allowing us to deliver a more resilient service. “Addionally, SWR will not be reinstang the addional aernoon peak services between Exeter and Honiton/Axminster. These are an inefficient use of resources and in some cases have had a negave impact on the performance on the single line secon between Pinhoe and Honiton. SWR will aim instead to provide sufficient capacity and suitable calling paerns on the exisng Waterloo services. “GWR is looking to provide limited extra services between Exeter and Axminster to supplement the core SWR Exeter – Waterloo service. These would be the basis upon which to build the Devon Metro aspiraon of a two trains per hour frequency between Exeter and Axminster. This requires investment in addional track capacity between Pinhoe and Honiton. The proposed service frequency remains one train per hour throughout the day. Trains would call at Clapham Juncon, Woking, Basingstoke, Andover, Salisbury, followed by all staons to Honiton, Cranbrook, Pinhoe, and Exeter Central. Alternate services would connue to call at Feniton and Whimple. Peak services would not call at Clapham Juncon and Woking, but would call at Overton, Whitchurch, and Grateley. SWR concludes that: “The service levels reflect the May 2019 metable with some changes to peak calls. The Honiton and Axminster shules have been removed to improve performance whilst retaining capacity.” The Chairman has submied a detailed response to SWR, which is reproduced below: We are a Staon Adopon Group, recognised by SWR. Our key purposes are: • To encourage, plan or carry out visual improvements to the staon environment with the support of the SWR; • To provide enhancements to the staon, such as noce-boards, display material, and artwork; • To make Honiton Staon a focus for the local community and a community resource; • To promote rail travel from Honiton to local people; • To lobby and campaign for improvements to rail services to and from Honiton, and links to local bus services. As such, our principal focus is on the West of England Line, and the services serving Honiton. We also have a specific interest in the secon of the route called the East Devon Line, serving staons from Axminster to Exeter, and which in due course looks to become part of Devon Metro. In addion, we take a close interest in issues affecng Feniton and Whimple, and so have included them in our response. We support the proposals for the Weymouth route. We believe that services that provide for leisure travel will in due course see their passenger numbers recover as SWR suggest. To maintain the service at pre-pandemic levels, both at peak and off-peak periods appears a sound proposal. Looking at the secon on the West of England Routes, our main responses are: • A careful balance needs to be struck between the desire to increase resilience, and providing a wide range of passenger opportunies, potenally growing the number of passengers. The possible removal of what SWR describe as “a small number of lightly used off-peak services between Salisbury and Yeovil” is a case in point. It needs to be determined that these services do not have the potenal to grow their passenger numbers in the short term. In the longer term, it is likely that increased populaon in Yeovil will see greater demand. • The maintenance of a full hourly service (and with six carriages throughout most of the day) between Waterloo and Exeter is of vital importance to passengers on the line. The staon stops made by these services are also important for the East Devon Line. The aspiraon has always been to achieve an hourly service serving Feniton and Whimple, rather than the present alternate or skip-stopping service, giving each village a two-hourly service. It has been noted that the present 2025 service from Exeter, for instance, does not stop at Whimple, leaving an important gap in the evening service. • If GWR do introduce, as hinted at, a limited Exeter to Axminster service, it is important that these stopping services are not facilitated by reducing the stops made by SWR services,