The Train at Pla orm 1 The Friends of Honiton Sta on Newsle er 6 - September 2020
Welcome to the latest edi on of our newsle er. Train Opera ng Companies are con nuing to increase the propor on of their normal service they are running. South Western Railway is introducing its latest amended metable on September 7th. Details of the metable are below. As usual, this month’s newsle er brings you up to date with all the latest railway news, as well as informa on about services and the next steps on the planned improvements to our line.
The latest newsle er, and copies of previous ones, can be found on our website at: friendso onitonsta on.org.uk/news
SWR Launch New Amended Timetable - Hourly Service Returns
On September 7th, South Western Railway will be introducing a new metable. For the first me since the lockdown began in March, there will be an hourly train service opera ng on the line through Honiton. SWR says that the new metable will increase capacity by approximately 20% compared to their previous amended metable.
On weekdays, a standard hourly service will operate between Waterloo and Exeter St. David’s. However two local services from Exeter in the evening peak will not run. To compensate for these cancelled services, trains such as the 16.25 and 17.25 from Exeter St David’s will have extra carriages. The 1725 service will call addi onally at Whimple. Addi onal buses or coaches will run between Axminster, Honiton and Exeter College in the morning and a ernoon peak periods to increase capacity and to help social distancing on trains.
The weekend metable will be very similar to the planned metable due to begin in May but never introduced due to the pandemic. There are, however, some changes to the weekend service later in the month due to engineering works (see below).
Mike Houghton, Chief Opera ng Officer at SWR said: “This metable change will increase capacity and help maintain social distancing as schools reopen and more people return to work. Whether you’re returning to work, sending the kids to school, or having a day out with the family, make sure you follow the latest travel guidance.”
The rules on purchasing ckets have changed slightly. Passengers are s ll advised to buy their cket online if possible. If passengers need to buy their cket at the sta on, they are asked to use a credit or debit card, or contactless where they can. However, cash is now accepted at cket offices and most cket machines once again.
Full details of the amended metable can be found on our website and through the Journey Planner on SWR’s website. The weekday metable can also be downloaded from SWR’s website at: southwesternrailway.com/plan-my-journey/ metables
The new metable is intended to operate un l December 11th.
No ce of Engineering Work - September 19th and 20th
Services will be disrupted on Saturday September 19th and Sunday 20th, due to engineering work between Woking and Basingstoke.
On Saturday, services will only operate between Exeter and Basingstoke. A replacement bus service will operate between Basingstoke and Woking, connec ng with a train service to Waterloo.
On Sunday, London-bound passengers will need to change at Andover, to catch a bus to Guildford, for a connec ng train service to Waterloo. Network Rail Track Assessment Unit passing Honiton on Monday August 17th.
Rail Fare Rises For 2021 Set at 1.6%
July’s RPI Infla on figure was published in August. The rise of 1.6% was much higher than many experts predicted. And unfortunately, the present price escalator set by the Government is based on the July figure. Therefore, despite the present collapse in passenger numbers, cket prices are set to rise in January by 1.6%, unless the Government decides to abolish or suspend the escalator. Gardeners Needed For Project At Honiton Sta on
SWR’s Safety team and the Community Rail Manager, Andy Harrowell have now agreed a new set of rules governing sta on adop on ac vi es as lockdown restric ons con nue to be eased. The result is that some limited ac vity can now resume.
Our priority con nues to be how to move the gardening project forward over the next 12 months. There are sources of funding to allow this to happen, including money presently held by the Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership. We can also bid for up to £500 of funds from SWR.
We are urgently looking to develop the project for a group of volunteers to renew the exis ng planters on Pla orm 1, and then to decide what further plan ng might be possible. At present, no mescale has been put on restar ng the project.
We are urgently seeking a project co-ordinator and a team of volunteers to move this forward.
The Chairman will liaise with industry partners and funders and help write any bid documents. The Treasurer can help keep track of the financial side of the project.
However, we need a project co-ordinator to recruit volunteers, plan the work, buy materials and equipment as necessary and work with volunteers to carry out the work on the sta on.
Under the new rules for sta on adopters, work can now restart at all loca ons, including staffed sta ons such as Honiton. There is no longer a restric on on groups only a ending sta ons when staff are not working.
All groups are asked to con nue to give priority to passengers, staff and contractors as they move around the sta on. Adopters must always bear in mind social distancing and keep space clear for others to move around the sta on. This may mean that adopters have to pause during their work and move to a place of social distance to allow the flow of passengers around the sta on, especially when train services arrive or depart.
Groups can now a end sta ons on more than one day a week, outside of peak hours, although this is s ll limited to two individuals at any one me. Face coverings must be worn at all mes around the whole sta on.
Work is limited to gardening ac vi es, as well as upda ng art displays and community no ceboards. No cleaning of hard surfaces, such as doors, windows and signage is to take place. No li er picking ac vi es are to take place. Book swaps and group produced leaflets are s ll not allowed.
If tools are to be shared between sta on adopters, they must be wiped clean first. Frames for no ceboards or art must be cleaned using an an -bacterial wipe before opening and wiped down immediately a er use.
Can you help us renew the planters at Honiton Sta on? As you can see, they have not been touched since before the lockdown. They need plenty of TLC, and lots of new plants! GWR Trains To Be Diverted Through Honiton Again
Services through Honiton will be disrupted when GWR trains are diverted along the East Devon Line through Honiton between Monday September 28th and Friday October 2nd. Network Rail will be renewing tracks in the Tiverton Parkway area. Replacement buses will run between Taunton, Tiverton Parkway and Exeter St. David’s.
We an cipate that one GWR Paddington to Plymouth service every two hours in each direc on will be metabled to use the diversionary route. Fewer GWR trains than normal will operate directly between Paddington and Penzance. Passengers may need to change at Plymouth.
South Western Railway services between Salisbury, Yeovil and Exeter will run to a revised metable to accommodate the diverted Great Western Railway services.
The revised metable will be available from the Timetables tab on our website, or by checking Journey Planner on the South Western Railway website. If a printable metable is published by SWR, a copy will be made available on our website.
Previously, agreement has been reached between GWR and SWR that passengers can board GWR services which are med to stop at Honiton, in order to travel between Honiton and Exeter.
However, there have been problems in the past over whether permission has been granted for London-bound passengers to board GWR trains in Honiton in order to travel to Paddington. Check Journey Planner carefully, or contact SWR Customer Services, as permission to travel may be granted on only a few services each day.
SWR recently announced that from September 7th, you may only use a cket that is shown as for travel with a specific train operator on that operator's services unless special arrangements are in place, as above. If you have such a cket and the train is cancelled, you may s ll travel on services run by any operator between the same start and end sta on. Normal Peak/Off-Peak me restric ons s ll apply. Advance cket holders will be permi ed to travel on other operator’s services if the original booked service is delayed or cancelled. (I hope that all makes sense. Ed) East Devon Line To Be Closed at Half-term: Replaced By Bus Service
The line between Honiton and Exeter will be closed completely from Sunday 25th un l Friday 30th October, and on Sunday November 8th, for track renewal work at Exmouth Junc on in Exeter.
Trains from Waterloo will terminate at Honiton. A bus service will operate between Honiton and Exeter St. David’s. A two-hourly train service will also operate between Honiton and Pinhoe, with a connec ng bus service from there to Exeter St.David’s.
GWR services between Exeter St.David’s and Exmouth will also be affected. More details will appear in the next newsle er.
Campaign for Vital Track Improvements Gains Further Momentum
The start of August saw our campaign to persuade the Department for Transport to accept the CMSP report into the future of the railway line between Salisbury and Exeter step up a gear.
The Midweek Herald and Exmouth Journal both ran a story wri en by Sam Cooper, the same reporter who previously reported on our work, headed:
MPs back Network Rail plans which could introduce a ‘Devon Metro’ train service
The newspaper reported that the MPs for Tiverton and Honiton and East Devon have given their support to a proposal which would see the crea on of an hourly ‘Devon Metro’ train service between Axminster to Exeter St David’s service that calls at all sta ons and could be extended to Barnstaple.
The report pointed out that Network Rail’s recommended improvements for the Exeter to Waterloo Line would address the present complaints of overcrowding.
It outlined Network Rail’s CMSP plan, men oning the extension of the Honiton Loop westward for up to 3km, a new loop in the Whimple and Cranbrook area, an addi onal pla orm at Cranbrook Sta on and an extension to the exis ng Tisbury Loop.
The report concluded that: “Any plans would need approval from the Government, and groups such as Salisbury to Exeter Rail Users’ Group have encouraged MPs to put pressure on the Minister of Transport to ensure the process con nues at a speedy pace.”
Tiverton and Honiton MP Neil Parish was quoted in the newspaper report as saying:
“Network Rail’s plan for the Exeter to Waterloo route is hugely encouraging, iden fying the key issues with the line and coming up with viable solu ons.
“Faster travel mes between East Devon and Waterloo are much needed, as is be er connec vity around the greater Exeter area, using the Devon Metro to improve local services between Axminster, Honiton and Exeter. “With growth in housing and employment in the region, there is a clear business case for more public transport investment. I will be making that very case to the Transport Minister, who I know is working hard to reverse the Beeching cuts and invest in clean, green, public transport to connect our towns and spread opportunity.”
Simon Jupp, MP for East Devon, added: “We must con nue to invest to improve our railway network in the South West to keep the region connected and compe ve.
“I have wri en to the Secretary of State for Transport to support the new proposals which would improve connec vity and boost our economy in East Devon. I am already working with MPs in the region and Devon County Council to push for this investment.”
This story was then picked up by BBC Radio Devon, with an interview by Breakfast presenter Laura James and Andrew (Andy) Roden from Rail Magazine.
Andy joined RAIL in 2000 as a news and features writer. He has wri en four books, including a history of the Great Western Railway, covered the UK and interna onal rail industries, and led 2005’s successful campaign to save the ‘Night Riviera’ sleeper train. He is also a regular commentator on rail ma ers on television and radio.
In the interview, he described the CMSP report as: “An excellent piece of work.” He described the Salisbury to Exeter route as: “A very important main line serving a lot of people.”
Although he said that the report could have been even more ambi ous, he said that it was a pragma c set of proposals which, if implemented, would make a big difference. He acknowledged that at present there is limited capacity on the line and it is in need of investment. He made the point that the country needs to invest in the whole rail network, not just in some parts of the country, and that investment is badly needed in rail freight transport.
He admi ed when pressed, that the passenger figures for sta ons such as Feniton and Whimple were rela vely low at present. However, he made it clear that we need to develop a sustainable transport policy that gets more people out of their cars and onto public transport. To achieve that, the addi onal Devon Metro service needs to stop at all sta ons.
Asked whether he thought the proposals would be carried out, he said that there was: “A strong logical case.” Eventually, he felt, the whole route between Salisbury to Exeter would need to be doubled, and electrified.
But in the meanwhile, the CMSP proposals represented what he described as: “A rela vely quick and easy win.” Andy summed up his views by saying that he believed that: “A lot of this will happen” within 10 years, and that some parts could be under way within five years.
Less welcome news is that East Devon District Council is planning to withdraw from the Greater Exeter Strategic Plan. While it is a very bureaucra c, and in some ways deeply flawed process, it does have the poten al to point out the key role of public transport corridors into Exeter. One of the key purposes outlined by the plan is to explore the transport and infrastructure improvements needed to support sustainable growth. August’s Message from Mark Hopwood, Managing Director of SWR
I have been at the helm of South Western Railway (SWR) for a li le over 6 months, and whilst I knew when I joined the company that I’d face many challenges, no one could have predicted that the biggest challenge would be responding to a deadly virus.
Coronavirus has had a significant impact on SWR, as well as the wider industry, with passenger numbers falling overnight. At the height of lockdown we saw around 4-5,000 key workers passing through Waterloo sta on each morning as opposed to our usual 125,000 passengers.
For someone who has been in the industry for over 30 years, it has been a peculiar me. I have always been the one encouraging more passengers onto the railway, but instead I have recently found myself doing the opposite and asking passengers to only travel if necessary.
Like all businesses during the pandemic, we have seen an increase in the number of colleagues off work, ill or self-isola ng, and as result we have been running a reduced service on our network. Despite this, our focus has been on running a reliable service for those that need it, including the key workers who have been keeping our country safe through these difficult mes.
Prior to COVID-19, we had begun to see the early signs of improvement in performance, and over the last few months with fewer people travelling, and fewer services running, our train performance has been significantly be er. The challenge as we add in further services and see more passengers returning to the railway is how to maintain that improvement while mee ng demand. At the me of wri ng, we are s ll achieving over 90% daily.
As an industry, we have also seen a temporary change in how franchises operate, with Emergency Measures Agreements resul ng in the Government taking on the cost and revenue risk of running franchises across the UK. This has allowed us to maintain all colleagues, without the need to furlough and has highlighted how lucky we are to receive such support, and how vital the railway will be in helping our communi es and the economy as a whole to recover.
As the country moves out of lockdown and we welcome customers back on to the railway, people's travel pa erns may well have changed. We will need to be agile - in terms of managing these demands and providing flexible cke ng op ons - in order to meet our customers' needs.
On September 1st, in a new message Mark Hopwood added:
We have been preparing for the return of schools this week and next, to ensure that schoolchildren returning to educa on can travel safely with us. To do this we have wri en to schools across our region, asking them to share our dedicated schools website page and guide (www.southwesternrailway.com/backtoschool) amongst parents and pupils, so that pupils are aware of the steps we are taking to travel safely. We have also been preparing our opera on for their return, iden fying key routes and sta ons; we will also have addi onal staff at some of our sta ons to provide extra guidance and support to those returning.
By working together with our customers, colleagues, and you our stakeholders, we can make sure everyone can travel safely.
Note from the Editor: If you travelled during the December 2019 industrial ac on, you could be eligible for compensa on. Check if you are eligible and make your claim via the links on SWR’s website. The deadline is September 13th. Passengers Cau ous About Returning To The Railway
The passenger transport watchdog, Transport Focus has been surveying 2000 people over the last three months, to gauge a tudes to using public transport during the pandemic. The survey found that there is greater op mism amongst rail users who have travelled during lockdown restric ons about returning to regular rail travel, albeit with some concerns.
The survey also shows that just under 50% of rail users would like to start travelling again, but remain cau ous and intend to wait un l they feel safe. Just under 40% can’t wait to start making their usual rail journeys again and plan to do so now that they’re no longer advised to avoid it. The remainder will only travel when they absolutely have to.
Guidance on wearing face coverings on public transport, however, was broadly welcomed, adding a posi vity to travel.
With the Government signalling an end to working from home, Transport Focus asked current non- rail users their percep on on rail travel. Those who had not taken a rail journey during lockdown said that they saw it as a daun ng prospect. Concerns raised included having to think about what other rail users are doing and how they are behaving. While passengers are generally op mis c about the punctuality and reliability of the service, they do not expect to have a relaxing experience on the train during the pandemic.
Passengers also worried that crowding on services may be unpredictable. Passengers looking to make rail journeys feel that encountering an overcrowded train is now simply a ma er of luck.
Sadness at Fatal Rail Accident - Three Killed
The whole railway community was saddened at the news that three people, including the driver and conductor, lost their lives when a six carriage High Speed Train derailed near Stonehaven in Scotland on August 12th, a er hi ng the debris from a landslide at 73 miles an hour. The area had seen torren al downpours in the hours before the accident.
Mercifully, fatal rail accidents are rare. But whenever they do occur, they remain shocking events. Our thoughts are with the family and friends of the deceased, those who were injured in the accident, and all those who have been affected by this tragic event.
SWR Launches Apple Pay For Customers
South Western Railway has become one of the first UK train operators to launch Apple Pay on its app and website making it easier for customers to buy their ckets online. Customers using an Apple device such as an iPad or iPhone can use the feature through the SWR app or SWR website when purchasing a cket.
The Apple Pay feature allows customers to buy a cket without having to enter their details such as card number and billing address every me they purchase a cket. Instead, the system uses the card informa on saved on the device to process the transac on in a ma er of seconds. Using the SWR app also allows customers to use e- ckets which can be saved directly onto a customer’s phone, rather than having to print a cket at the sta on before travelling. Flash Floods at Feniton - Last Phase of Flood Defence Scheme Needed
Flash flooding in the Feniton area led to delays and disrup on on August 14th. Torren al rain caused services to be halted temporarily, one service to be cancelled and replacement buses to be scrambled in case they were needed.
The flooding in the area led to renewed calls for the last phase of Feniton’s flood defence scheme to be completed. The work requires pipes to be installed under the railway, needing a line closure las ng several days. There have been several delays to this work, involving on-going discussions between East Devon District Council and Network Rail.
The work was most recently scheduled for Autumn 2020. At present, no date has been announced.
Villagers remain hopeful. But in the meanwhile, everyone watches the skies for further storms.
Young Honiton Resident Urges SWR Passengers to Socially Distance
New sta on announcements recorded by two children call on passengers to wear face coverings and keep their distance from each other. The announcements are now being played across the SWR network.
Evie Thew (photo right) from Honiton urges everyone to keep their distance so she is s ll able to hug her mum, dad and granddad, all of whom work for SWR.
Mum and dad, Stacey Re er and James Thew, (photo below) are well known to us from their work at Honiton cket office last winter and at Feniton Sta on. James’ father Mar n works in Train Presenta on.
In her announcement, the other child, Teenasha Santuck from South London, asks customers to wear a face covering so that she can see her mum smile when she gets back from work.
Alan Penlington, SWR’s Director of Customer Experience, said:
“By following Teenasha and Evie’s excellent advice and wearing a face covering while maintaining social distancing, we can all help to keep each other safe.”
Here is Evie’s announcement:
“Hello, I am Evie and my mum, dad and granddad work for South Western Railway. If you’re travelling today, please remember to socially distance. This will help keep my mum, dad and granddad safe and mean I can hug them when they get home from work”. This Month’s Guest Writer Explores The Beauty of Transport
The guest writer in this month’s newsle er is Dan Wright. A er gradua ng from Aston University in 1998 with a degree in Transport Management, Dan joined Transit Magazine, which covered the passenger transport industry, eventually becoming Assistant Editor.
In 2002, Dan went to work for Surrey County Council as their rail officer, wri ng their rail strategy, before becoming a senior transport officer. In 2012, he le the Council when he became a foster carer.
He also worked as a freelance writer, as well as working part- me in several public libraries, which eventually became his full- me job.
The lure of public transport was too strong to resist forever though, and in 2018 he joined what was then the Associa on of Community Rail Partnerships, now the Community Rail Network, as a Community Rail Support Officer for the South of England.
The photograph (taken in 2019) shows him at the 160th Anniversary celebra ons for Haslemere Sta on.
He works with Network members, ranging from line- based Community Rail Partnerships to groups of sta on adopters like us, suppor ng, encouraging and sharing knowledge.
Dan can o en be found po ering around on his allotment (“Why wait for re rement,” he asks) or kayaking in Chichester Harbour with his partner.
Many years ago, Dan started a blog called The Beauty of Transport. Dan says he writes about: “Transport design, transport architecture, and transport's influence on art and culture. It is part travelogue, part history, all transport (but some mes tangen ally so).”
James Robb Sco and the Architectural U-turn by Dan Wright
One of the nicest things about my job is that I get to travel around the railway network while I’m suppor ng community rail organisa ons and groups. There’s always something to see on my journeys. I have a par cular interest in transport design and architecture, so I enjoy the opportuni es to look around the many sta ons I stop off at.
It has to be said that Honiton’s sta on building, while eminently prac cal, isn’t the most architecturally noteworthy on the network. Most of the sta ons on the West of England line between Salisbury and Exeter originally had buildings by notable early railway architect Sir William Tite, and many survive to this day at sta ons like Crewkerne and Whimple. Honiton originally had a Tite building too, now sadly lost.
It’s a later railway architect who is on my mind today though, and one who executed the most drama c stylis c U-turn imaginable during his career. That U-turn is well illustrated a few sta ons down the line from Honiton, at Exeter Central. His name was James Robb Sco , and he was the first chief architect of the Southern Railway when it was created in 1923. We don’t know a lot about him, although we do know his father was, as Sco junior would become, an architect. Sco (the younger) worked his way up to chief architectural assistant at the prac ce Belcher & Joass in London, and in 1907 he became chief architectural assistant at the London and South Western Railway (L&SWR).
His most famous work for the L&SWR (and in fact in general) is the range of buildings at the back of London Waterloo, rebuilt between 1909 and 1923, and ending in the Victory Arch.
This entrance to the sta on is also a memorial to the fallen of the L&SWR. Throughout, but especially on the Victory Arch, Sco ’s architecture at Waterloo is heavy baroque. Carved cherubs poke out from stonework foliage, and swags drip around L&SWR monograms.
Yet only 14 years later, Sco would essay his second most famous sta on, at Surbiton in south west London. It is a complete contrast to Waterloo. It is a stark, clean-lined, Moderne (some mes called Art Deco – an argument over terminology that I’m staying well clear of) building, drama c and devoid of decora on.
The change in style is so great that some argue the two sta ons cannot be by the same architect. The candidate suggested by those who find it difficult to believe Sco was the architect of Surbiton is Edwin Maxwell Fry. He would later become known as a significant Modernist architect. Fry became Sco ’s chief architectural assistant at the Southern Railway in 1923/24, and is generally credited (or co-credited, along with Sco ) with the Southern Railway’s grand sta ons at Margate and Ramsgate which opened in 1926.
By 1930 he had le the Southern Railway again, but his autobiography alleges that Sco was a sort of architectural dinosaur, and it was Fry and a team of young architects he recruited who were subsequently responsible for the Southern Railway’s adventures in Moderne and Streamline Moderne.
One of the problems in iden fying the precise hand which drew up the Southern Railway’s Moderne sta ons is that very few of the drawings were signed. Sco ’s supporters, however, note that Fry was a keen self-publicist who had an agenda in playing down Sco ’s involvement in the Southern Railway’s conversion to Modernism. As the Dic onary of Sco sh Architects suggests, much of Fry’s appraisal of Sco “cannot be taken on trust”.
Certainly the dates favour Sco . Fry le before the most drama c of the Southern Railway’s Modernist architecture was built. And it is hard to imagine a scenario in which Sco as chief architect allowed his juniors in the Southern Railway’s chief architect’s office to con nue for years designing buildings in his name, in a style which was not to his taste.
In fact, if you look at the Southern Railway’s sta ons during Sco ’s tenure as chief architect, you can see the style of the buildings evolve, and the gradual transi on from Baroque to Modernism is much less of a shock than comparing Waterloo and Surbiton side by side. Exeter Central is a case in point. Opened in 1933, it is in a sort of neo-Georgian style, and much less ponderous than Sco ’s work at Waterloo. The decora ve elements – curved keystones in the arches and cartouches at the end of the building – are much reduced compared to Waterloo.
It is an altogether plainer building, though quietly very a rac ve. Its biggest decora ve element is a deligh ul cupola on the roof (although the top seems to have gone missing recently – is it away for restora on?) a feature which it shares with Sco ’s earlier sta on at Bromley North (shown le ).
Exeter Central is clearly a larger rela ve of Bromley North, and much more drama c with it.
While looking to his past, Exeter Central also looks forward to Sco ’s later Moderne sta ons, and Surbiton itself. In overall form Exeter Central’s sta on building is very Moderne.
A central block with two curved wings is also the form of the Grade II listed Imperial Airways Terminal in London, an important transport example of the Moderne style. Sco ’s later Moderne sta on at Richmond (1936) is more angular but also has a similar basic form.
The arched windows over the entrance doors of Exeter Central were used by Sco at other sta ons, growing increasingly large and drama c (and emula ng American Railroad sta on prac ce) as his sta ons moved away from the Baroque style to the Modern style.
In fact Has ngs, built two years before Exeter Central, looks slightly more modern; sta ons can take years to design and build, some mes ending up opening in a different order from that in which they were designed, which may have happened in this case.
Exeter Central’s red brick finish with pale window surrounds and cornice is also a design feature that crops up on many of Sco ’s later Moderne sta ons.
Although long since lost, there was an example of one of these at Templecombe. It was rebuilt in 1938 in the ‘Streamline Moderne’ style of Modernist architecture, with curves reminiscent of inter- war streamlined cars, or ocean liners.
Templecombe’s signal box, the only surviving architecture from the 1938 rebuild, demonstrates the style admirably.
That sta on was part of a series of increasingly uncompromising Moderne examples (including Falconwood, St Mary Cray and Bishopstone) which clearly segue into the design of Surbiton sta on, and which leave li le doubt (at least in my mind) that Sco was ul mately responsible for all of them.
Next me you take the train to Exeter, take another look at Exeter Central. It’s a fine building, and part of an intriguing railway architecture story.
Read Dan’s Blog at: thebeautyo ransport.com Sale of Pacers Raises £80 000 For Charity
Angel Trains has raised more than £80,000 for the Railway Children charity through the sale of withdrawn Class 142 Pacer diesel mul ple-units to heritage railways, community railways and the emergency services. However, it was not immediately clear what the la er might use theirs for… apart from se ng light to it, to prac se on.
The leasing company is also to donate a further £20,000 as part of its con nued sponsorship of the charity’s annual Railway Ball, which has been postponed this year. Railway Children funds work to support street children in India, East Africa and the UK, and the £100 000 dona on will support outreach programmes, with aid work in Tanzania a par cular focus, as many schools there have closed during the coronavirus pandemic.
Angel Trains CEO Kevin Tribley said: “Whilst the Pacers have come to the end of their life-cycle on our railways, it’s great to see how they con nue to deliver for this fantas c charity. We’re delighted to have raised this milestone amount of money and look forward to seeing how it will make a difference to children’s lives across the world at a challenging me.”
New Sta ons Programme Con nues… But Are They All New?
Network Rail con nues to open new sta ons, o en working in partnership with Local Authori es. Many of the latest batch of sta ons to open or planned replace those closed in the Beeching Cuts of the 1960s. These cuts are proving very costly to reverse.
Since 2017, we have seen nine new sta ons open, as recorded by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR). Of these, five were sta ons previously closed in the 1960s, three are en rely new sta ons, and one has moved a few hundred yards (and changed its name), as it transforms itself from being one of the area’s least used sta ons, to becoming the centre of a huge new redevelopment project, including a massive increase in housing.
The new sta ons are at Maghull North on the Merseyrail network, Warrington West which is designed to serve a new development in the town, and Worcestershire Parkway. This last sta on is a new split-level sta on (photo below) to the east of Worcester which opened on 23 February.
Meridian Water is a new sta on in Enfield replacing Angel Road, which was some 500m away. The new sta on is a key part of a massive regenera on project in the area.
The five sta ons which have been reopened include Kenilworth, on the line between Coventry and Leamington. The previous sta on closed in 1965.
Also reopened was Robroyston, on the Cumbernauld line in Scotland. The previous sta on there closed in 1956. The ORR figures also include two sta ons on heritage steam lines. Corfe Castle on the Swanage Railway is included, because it is served on Summer Saturdays by SWR services. And Bishops Lydeard is on the list, because the West Somerset Railway sta on was served last year by a trial service from Taunton run by GWR. Both lines were once on the main railway network.
Opened in June 2020, Horden is currently the newest sta on on the rail network. Britain’s 2571st sta on, it is located at Peterlee in County Durham. The previous sta on closed in 1964.
The next five new sta ons in line to be opened, according to All The Sta ons, also include three sta ons that were closed in the 1960s.
The previous sta on at Kintore on the Aberdeen to Inverness line was closed in 1964. The previous sta on at Bow Street on the Cambrian Line in Wales was closed in 1965. And the sta on being built at Dalcross, to serve Inverness Airport and to provide a Park and Ride facility for the town, also replaces a sta on closed in 1965.
The two en rely new sta ons are Reading Green Park, being built to serve a new housing development in the town, and Portway Parkway on the Bristol to Severn Beach Line, which will serve a Park and Ride site.
In our region, the next sta on due to be opened is at Marsh Barton in Exeter.
Plans for the two-pla orm sta on at Marsh Barton have finally been submi ed for approval, four years a er the sta on should have opened. Plans include a new cycleway embankment and footbridge link to the sta on to provide a dedicated route for bikes and pedestrians along Clapperbrook Lane. It is hoped that the long-awaited sta on will be open by the end of 2021 if plans get the go-ahead. A previous version of plans for the sta on, due to open at the end of 2016, had been approved. However, delays, rising costs, changes in design standards and an unsuccessful bid to the Department for Transport’s New Sta ons Fund led to a funding shor all which has delayed the project.
The new sta on will be on the Exeter to Paignton line.
Further down the same line will be Edginswell, a new sta on intended to serve Torquay Hospital and a new housing development in the area.
Groups con nue to campaign for the reopening of two sta ons closed in 1964, at Wellington and at Cullompton, both on the line between Taunton and Exeter.
And if a year-round service is introduced from Exeter to Okehampton, plans exist to build Okehampton East Parkway Sta on, as its name suggests a Park and Ride sta on on the East of the town.
Further in the future, there are plans to try and reinstate the line from Bere Alston to Tavistock, building a new sta on to replace the previous Tavistock North Sta on which was closed in 1968.
You will not be surprised to learn, therefore, that of our six hoped for addi onal sta ons on the regional network, three would be re-openings.
In this less than scien fic bit of research, therefore, 55% of the 20 sta on projects looked at would be sta ons being reinstated following previous cuts. Readers can draw their own conclusions.
SWR Stakeholder Newsle er - Second With All The News
August saw the publica on of the seventh edi on of SWR’s excellent stakeholder newsle er “South Western Report.” It is well worth a read.
Introducing the latest issue, the Senior Regional Development Manager Phil Dominey said: “This edi on has a special update on how we've tackled Covid-19 and kept services running during the pandemic, and what we’re doing to ensure passengers and colleagues can con nue to travel safely.
“The newsle er also focuses on how we’re inves ng in the future, including new sta on Wi-Fi, a £1.5 sta on repain ng scheme as well as an update on the Island line. There is also a two-page special on our new Class 701 trains which arrived over the Summer for network tes ng. Awards season is upon us, and we’ve been short-listed in five categories for the industry ‘Oscars’.”
While the the SWR newsle er is one issue ahead of us at the moment (7 edi ons to our 6), readers will quickly spot that many of the news stories in “South Western Report” have already been covered in “The Train at Pla orm 1” over the last couple of months. Which just goes to show, if you want all the latest news, this is the place to find it (Sorry SWR).
Read the latest edi on of South Western Report at: h ps://bit.ly/Newsle erSummer2020 Community Rail Awards Shortlist Announced
A number of community rail partnerships and sta on adopters which have been given funding and support by South Western Railway (SWR) have been shortlisted as part of the coveted Community Rail Awards.
The awards celebrate the important, and o en unsung work, carried out by community rail volunteers, partnerships, sta on friends, and community groups, in bringing local people together, running community engagement and rail accessibility ini a ves, as well as helping communi es get the most from their local railway lines and sta ons.
In the Involving Diverse Groups category, SWR’s Community Ambassadors are nominated for journeys they ran with three CRPs (Devon and Cornwall, East Hants and Surrey Hills to South Downs) for young people with learning disabili es, two primary schools and a group from Demen a Friendly Petersfield.
Works at sta ons large and small are also highlighted, including the impressive work undertaken by the Surrey Hills to South Downs CRP adding flower displays, a defibrillator, and a recently refurbished volunteer run Informa on Hub to Haslemere Sta on, which is shortlisted for the Most Enhanced Sta on award.
The Friends of Crewkerne Sta on are also one of two adop on groups shortlisted in this year’s “It’s Your Sta on” category, going up against the Friends of Brockenhurst Sta on.
(Photo right: members of the Friends of Crewkerne Sta on at the 160th anniversary in July)
Each group has added impressive planters and organised community events at their sta ons, further helping the loca ons reflect the communi es they serve.
Andy Harrowell, SWR’s Community Rail Manager, said:
“Over the last year we’ve gone further than ever before to help support communi es across our network, providing funding to three addi onal CRPs, helping to create two new job roles, as well as suppor ng more and more groups to help their sta on further reflect the community they serve.
“We are extremely pleased to see so many of these collabora ons recognised within these shortlis ngs.
“All across our network our staff and community partners undertake some excellent projects to support local areas and to have these acknowledged in this way is an extra bonus. We wish everyone luck when the awards are announced.” Network Rail Turns Myth-buster To Deny Brunel Box Tunnel Legend
Millions of passengers, including many ardent railways enthusiasts, will at some point have been told the story that the rising sun shines through Box Tunnel in Wiltshire on Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s birthday on April 9th.
Sadly, a recent inves ga on, which seemingly included a Network Rail worker in an orange jacket standing staring into the mouth of the tunnel and hoping there was no train coming, has shown that this is not the case.
However, exhaus ve research by the man in the hi-vis jacket shows that the sun does indeed shine directly through the tunnel on several other days in April, and again in September.
Never willing to give up on a good story, other researchers now claim that in fact the tunnel is deliberately aligned with the sunrise on April 6th, which was the birthday of Brunel’s sister, Emma.
No explana on has been offered as to why Brunel might have wanted to make her the gi of a railway tunnel. A birthday card would have been much simpler. And a lot easier to post.
Missing the Edinburgh Fes val? Then Learn to Throw Straight…
Many people are missing the Edinburgh Fes val Fringe this year. In par cular, they look forward to the compe on for the best joke told at the Fes val.
Previous winning jokes have included some classic one-liners, such as:
"I've given up asking rhetorical ques ons. What's the point?"
"I'm not a fan of the new pound coin. But then again, I hate all change"
"Working at the Job Centre has to be a tense job - knowing that if you get fired, you s ll have to come in the next day.”
Looking through the results of previous compe ons, here are some of my all- me favourites.
Two fish in a tank. One turns to the other and says, “Do you know how to drive this?”
Hedgehogs - why can't they just share the hedge?
My parents wanted me to sharpen pencils for a living. But I couldn’t see the point.
I saw a documentary about how ships are kept together. Rive ng.
Conjunc vi s.com: there's a site for sore eyes. And finally:
A mate of mine keeps forge ng how to get to his allotment. I swear he's lost the plot.
With all that in mind, here are some of the best – or worst – railway one-liners.
A friend got to the final of the local model railway compe on. He lost on points.
I asked a driver how many mes his train had derailed. He said, “I’m not sure, it’s hard to keep track.”
I went to a railway fancy dress party. Everyone was wearing pla orms.
I got a couple of railway buffers going cheap. It was an end of line sale.
I’ve always liked one-liners. That’s why I’m a fan of monorails.
Ticket inspectors. You’ve got to hand it to them…
I know someone who tried to run away a er camouflaging a railway. He tried to cover his tracks.
A train track and a motorway walk into a bar. The train track says, “A pint for me, please, and one for the road.”
A friend of mine quit his job as a reporter and le town by railway. It was an ex-press train.
I tried to get to work by train this morning. They said, "Today there is a bus replacement service." So I gave them a n of pineapple chunks. They said, "What's that?" I said, "That's my money replacement service.”
And Finally… The Reader Compe on
SWR has just announced that the new Bombardier Class 701 trains soon to be introduced on London suburban services will be known as “Arterio”. Previously, London and North Eastern Railway decided that their version of the Hitachi trains we are now familiar with seeing on GWR services would be called “Azuma,” which means East in Japanese.
So, to this month’s compe on: What new name could be given to the faithful old Class 159 trains that do such loyal service up and down our line? Nothing rude please. Humorous would be good. Funny and appropriate would be even be er. The best answers will be featured in our next issue.
Sugges ons please to the usual email address