Local and Regional Rail

INVOLVING THE COMMUNITY LOCAL AND REGIONAL RAIL A SPECIAL REPORT A SPECIAL REPORT outlining how the UK’s Community Rail approach is taking root in Europe Citizens‘Rail Our train Our station Our citizens INVOLVING THE COMMUNITY LOCAL AND REGIONAL RAIL Sharing experiences: the Citizens’ Rail team, drawn from several different EU countries, met in France in July and sampled the Pays de la Loire’s Beach Train – they are seen here at the seaside station of Les Sables d’Olonne. KEITH FENDER SPREADING BEST PRACTICE or more than 20 years, the UK’s Now, thanks to the European Union’s The EU funding unlocked by Citizens’ Community Rail sector has developed Citizens’ Rail project, this approach Rail has helped the citizens of Burnley get a Flocal and regional railways by involving is taking root in France, Germany and top quality new station, replacing one shut residents and businesses. the Netherlands too – with the British in the 1960s. It has helped planning for new partners also learning much from their stations in Germany and the Netherlands, Continental colleagues. increased service frequencies on the south Begun in May 2012, the Citizens’ Rail Devon coast line and helped revitalis e a programme has a €9.03 million budget, 50% French cross-country route that operator fi nanced by the EU Interreg IVB programme. SNCF had all but given up on. The aim is that Through new and refurbished station the best practice these initiatives represent buildings, more frequent services, can be replicated elsewhere. a volunteering, social outreach and local Aachen marketing campaigns, the project is helping Germany more people to use and engage with their and Lancashire Parkstad Limburg local train services. ‘It’s an innovative, UK Netherlands low-cost way to boost the economy, tackle Pays de la Loire local transport needs and re-connect isolated France Devon populations’ says Richard Burningham of UK the Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership, lead partner in the programme. Each local area has its own rail and community engagement expertise. The partners in the Citizens’ Rail programme are sharing the approaches that have been adopted (a key Interreg theme), with many ideas for developing local rail services outlined in the following pages. They are urging other authorities and support groups Enjoy yourself at the beach: publicity to adapt them and use them in their own for the Pays de la Loire’s Beach Train. areas and have set up a Toolkit at www. © RÉGION DES PAYS DE LA LOIRE/DDB citizensrail.org/toolkit to help them do this. 2 A MODERN RAILWAYS SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT LOCAL AND REGIONAL RAIL INVOLVING THE COMMUNITY RIVIERA BOOST Thrown in at the deep end (almost EXTRA TRAINS, MARKETING AND COMMUNITY literally) was FGW man Ian Mundy: ENGAGEMENT FOR THE PAIGNTON TO EXETER LINE he had taken over as South Devon Station Manager, covering Dawlish and the outh Devon’s Riviera Line is a EXTRA ‘153’ whole of the Riviera Line, just three days scenic feast. Local trains thread Diesel multiple-units are in short supply before the storm hit! Sthe coast from Paignton to Exeter in the UK, with virtually all the available With no services between Newton Abbot and Exmouth, taking in the delights of trains tied up. But with the Interreg funds and Exeter, the peninsula rail system was the seaside, the historic Powderham promised, Riviera Line operator First Great cut in two. An emergency service was estate and the Teign and Exe estuaries en Western was in a position to bid for any instituted on the western side of route. But views alone will not sustain a units that might be spare. FGW scoured the the collapse, including a Paignton to railway, so it was a welcome move when country and was able to strike a deal with St Erth HST service, with buses the Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership, neighbouring operator South West Trains connecting Newton Abbot to Exeter. Devon County Council and Torbay Council that yielded suffi cient rolling stock for Once the railway was restored, the sought to get involved in the promotion the job. SWT hired a two-car Class 158 resources were in place to promote the and development of the line with the to FGW, enabling FGW to shuffl e its stock line. A large-scale marketing programme help of funds from the European Union’s and cascade two single-car Class 153s to was begun, with newspaper adverts and a Interreg programme. local services – one to the TransWilts line poster campaign on bus shelters appealing Work began in the summer of 2012, between Swindon, Melksham and to both local residents and the summer with a principal aim being an increase Westbury, and the other to the Riviera Line. holidaymaker market. This was repeated in in frequency on the route, a long-held Turmoil over bidding for the West the autumn of 2014 and the spring of 2015. local aspiration. The Exmouth to Exeter Coast main line franchise had a knock-on A website, therivieraline.com, was branch enjoys a half-hourly service, with effect for the Great Western that delayed set up by the Devon & Cornwall Rail the ultimate destination of these services matters slightly, but by the December 2013 Partnership. As well as train times alternating between Barnstaple and timetable change FGW was in a position to and fares, the website gives ideas for Paignton. So the focus was on the Exeter institute the extra services on the Riviera outings using the train, from shopping to Paignton stretch, where the target was Line. Two extra sets of crew were hired destinations to walks from stations and to up frequencies to those on the Exmouth in Exeter and the additional Class 153 pubs easily reached from the line. line by providing at least two trains an was present on the patch, allowing six hour. Timetable planners established that, additional round trips, Mondays to Fridays as a fi rst stage, some strategic insertion (see table overleaf). Now the challenge was of extra local services would achieve the to ensure that the trains were fi lled. desired frequency levels between Newton Abbot and Paignton (although a clockface STORM! pattern was not immediately feasible). The Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership But the extra services would require recruited a Communications Offi cer an additional train, plus two sets of train and Riviera Line Project Offi cer in crew – so there would be a cost. That is September 2013 to help devise a strategy to where the EU funds would come into play, boost ridership. But they had scarcely got with £1 million from the Interreg IVB fund their feet under the table before a natural helping to kickstart the project, together disaster hit the Riviera Line: on the night with funding from Devon County Council, of 4 February 2014, a severe storm ripped Torbay Council, First Great Western apart the sea wall at Dawlish and services (now Great Western Railway) and the were suspended for two months while Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership. repairs were effected. Citizens’ Rail: unit Nos 153325 and 150247 at Dawlish Warren en route to Paignton, with No 153325 wearing the promotional livery. COLIN J. MARSDEN A MODERN RAILWAYS SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT 3 INVOLVING THE COMMUNITY LOCAL AND REGIONAL RAIL More Torbay trains: partners including Torbay Council, Devon County Council, First Great Western and the Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership celebrate the launch of the additional services in December 2013 at Paignton station. Harrington hump: the raised section of the down platform children at two schools. This was inspired at Exeter St Thomas, with the listed edging stones at left. by Community Rail Lancashire’s award-winning Passport to Safe Travel. The children took part in an organised trip on the line and then, thanks to First Great Western and CrossCountry, as long as accompanied by a fare-paying adult, were free to use the trains with the passport for the following three months, helping to inculcate the idea of train travel and giving practical experience of how useful the line could be. The children were encouraged to record their trips in the passport, giving a usage record. One of the aims of the Interreg programme is for participating EU countries to learn from each other and for ideas to cross borders: the success of the school passport scheme in Lancashire and By the time the schools returned in from 13 schools participating. Altogether Devon prompted the Région Pays de la September 2014, the project promoters 650 children, along with 120 adults, Loire in western France, another were in a position to market the Riviera took part. Citizens’ Rail participant, to imitate it. Line to school students – the rail In the spring of 2015 this theme was Coming in the other direction was an travellers of tomorrow. A series of outings taken one stage further, with a ‘passport’ idea from France: the Devon & Cornwall by train were organised, with 22 classes to travel on the Riviera Line issued to 180 Rail Partnership team was impressed by the way the French promoted their line SIX ADDITIONAL ROUND TRIPS using advertisements on bags for baguette MONDAYS TO FRIDAYS, DECEMBER 2013 TIMETABLE loaves and sought a British equivalent. 08.23 Exeter St David’s – Paignton (all stations) ‘We decided to use beer mats!’ smiles 12.11 Newton Abbot – Paignton (all stations) Richard Burningham, manager of the 12.49 Exeter St David’s – Paignton (fast to Newton Abbot, then all stations) Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership. Riviera 14.10 Newton Abbot – Paignton (all stations) Line beer mats are in use in pubs along the 15.07 Newton Abbot – Paignton (all stations) coast, promoting the Riviera Line to those 15.59 Newton Abbot – Paignton (all stations) wishing to leave their car at home.

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