1 Local Rail Service Developments In Mid Devon Presentation to MidMid DevonDevon DistrictDistrict CouncilCouncil Andrew Griffiths Business Manager Devon & Cornwall 2 Local Rail Services - Overview • Franchise • Performance - Reliability, Punctuality • Journeys - Seasonal trend, Historic trend, Branchline context • Usage of stations •Trains • Stations • Marketing • Timetable developments 3 Wessex Trains Franchise • Train Operating Company • Geography • Operations • Future 4 Performance - Devon • Reliability (trains run) – Passengers Charter target - 99.5% – 2003 average - 99.9% • Punctuality (arriving less than 5 mins late) – Passengers Charter target - 92.0% – 2003 average - 92.9% Journeys - 12 50 11 25 10 00 87 5 75 0 62 No. of journeys (k) B 5 50 0 ranchline context 37 5 25 0 12 5 N o . of J 0 o u rn ey s by Exeter - Paignton/Plymouth r oute - 20 03 Exeter - Exmouth Plymouth - Penzance Penzance - St. Ives 5 Exeter - Barnstaple Ro Truro - Falmouth u te Plymouth - Gunnislake Liskeard - Looe Par - Newquay 6 Journeys - Tarka Line Exeter - Barnstaple 30 25 20 2001 15 2002 2003 10 5 0 12345678910111213 Period 7 Tarka Line Journeys - Historic trend • Floods / Foot & Mouth • 2001 - 198k • 2002 - 217k (+9.6%) • 2003 - 224k (+3.5%) 8 Timetable (from Barnstaple) Weekdays Winter 1980 Winter 1992 Winter 2003 Services 8 911 Destinations 6 St.Davids 1 St.Davids 1 St.Davids 0 Central 4 Central 5 Central 2 Exmouth 4 Exmouth 5 Exmouth Chapelton 2 2 8 Umberleigh 6 9 11 Portsmouth Arms 2 3 2 Kings Nympton 5 6 9 Eggesford 8 9 11 Lapford 5 6 11 Morchard Road 1 4 7 Copplestone 1 1 7 Yeoford 4 6 11 Crediton 8 9 + 4 11 Newton St.Cyres 2 2 + 3 7 9 Usage of stations • 71% of journeys internal (Exeter-Barnstaple) 2003 FY 2002 % of usage Uses / week Uses / train Barnstaple 72.8 3,394 24.6 Chapelton 0.3 14 0.2 Umberleigh 3.3 153 1.1 Portsmouth Arms 0.3 12 0.4 Kings Nympton 1.7 77 0.7 Eggesford 4.7 220 1.6 Lapford 2.0 94 0.7 Morchard Road 1.8 85 1.0 Copplestone 0.5 24 0.3 Yeoford 3.3 154 1.1 Crediton 8.9 416 3.1 Newton St.Cyres 0.5 22 0.3 Usage of stations 25 ng lighti a 20 ng + rdi boa 15 e U opl ses o 10 er of pe mb u f N st 5 a t i o 0 n c a l l s Barnstaple i n F Y 2 Crediton 002, b y r a Eggesford n k o r d e Umberleigh r - E x e t Yeoford e r t o B a r Morchard Road n s t ap l Kings Nympton e Lapford Portsmouth Arms Copplestone 10 Newton St. Cyres Chapleton 11 Trains • ‘Class 150’ fleet refurbished 12 • ‘The Tarka Belle’ 13 Other Tarka developments • Barnstaple opening hours, station cleaner • Grant-aided upgrades to intermediate stations • Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership • ‘Days Out’ and ‘Line Guides’ • Rail Ale Trail, Jazz Trains etc 14 The Avocet Line 2003 ExeRail station scheme • New shelter at Exmouth and Topsham • Repainting of other shelters, plus all railings and lamp columns • Disabled access at Topsham • New benches, litter bins, station signs, Exe Estuary posters • Cleaning and vegetation clearance. 15 New shelters for old 16 More to be done! 17 Branding / Link with RSPB 18 Aspirations 2004-2006 Infrastructure • Barnstaple station house; Avocet line ‘phase 2’ - special focus on Digby. • Faster Tarka journey times - Eggesford and Salmon Pool crossings Trains • Extra capacity on peak services • Interior refurbishment of ‘Class 153’s and ‘158s’ 19 Aspirations 2004-2006 Marketing • Residents - ‘Devon Railcard’ door-drop, Loyalty marketing • Tourists - ‘Great Scenic Railways of Devon & Cornwall’, Destination posters • Tickets - ‘Freedom Pass’, Simplified fares • Events - ‘Barnstaple 150’, County Show. Timetable • Opportunity for a step-change in service! 20 Summer 2004 Tarka Line Timetable • 12 services daily • Approximately ‘clockface’ departures • One-hour journey time to Exeter Central • Through running to Exmouth • Better timing of commuter services • Better connections with Paddington services (Winter 2004) • Better reliability (self-contained operation and off-peak ‘thunderbird’) • All services two carriages • Dozens fewer closure of Red Cow barriers 21 Summer 2004 Tarka Line Timetable And… • Cost neutral - no extra resources required What’s the secret? Understanding the current timetable • Irregular times, Erratic calling pattern • Difficulty of achieving consistent connections • Inefficient (lots of empty stock moves) due to terminating at St.Davids or Central •Not integratedintegrated with other services 22 Summer 2004 Tarka Line Timetable Understanding the new timetable • Regular timings • Locked-in pathways through busy mainline section • Regular mainline connections • Efficient (43 empty stock moves eliminated) due to few terminations at St.Davids / Central • Fully integratedintegrated with Exmouth and Paignton services • Enhanced ‘robustness’ of operation 23 Summer 2004 Tarka Line Timetable • A vision for integrated local services on the Exeter hub 24 Summer 2004 Tarka Line Timetable What’s the catch? • Paddington service connections poorer until Winter 2004 clockfacing by FGW. • Need to reduce journey times between the crossing points at Topsham and Eggesford: 1. Higher line speeds / faster trains - unlikely. 2. Speeding up access over Eggesford Crossing / closing Salmon Pool Crossing - preferable. 3. Reducing the number of calls at intermediate stations - the only short-term option 25 Summer 2004 Tarka Line Timetable Weekdays Winter 2003 Summer 2004 Services from Bar 11 12 Departures 0709, 0900 C, 1014, 0642, 0747, 0855 C, 1221 C, 1322 C, 1418, 0951, 1152, 1352, to Exmouth except 1605 D, 1814 C, 1924, 1555, 1658, 1800 C, C - Central D - St.Davids 2045 C, 2148 1929, 2048, 2145 Chapelton 8 3 Umberleigh 11 10 Portsmouth Arms 2 2 Kings Nympton 9 8 Eggesford 11 12 Lapford 11 7 Morchard Road 7 5 Copplestone 7 2 Yeoford 11 8 Crediton 11 12 Newton St.Cyres 7 4 26 Summer 2004 Timetable The risk • If we do not take the Summer 2004 opportunity to ‘lock in’ the North Devon line to a regular-interval service integrated with the other local services, the Exeter hub time- table die will be cast leaving the North Devon line with an irregular and isolated service for years to come. 27 Outlook - promising.