Northern Route Working Group

Making the case to reopen the #NorthernRoute from Plymouth to Exeter via Tavistock and Okehampton

[Andy Bowes-Roden = = @AndyRoden1]

Always a pleasure chatting to @ChurchfieldJE on @BBCCornwall this morning. Apologies for not putting my teeth in properly this morning - the railway section starts at 2hrs 8mins in, starting with @networkrailwest and then me. https://t.co/FBWN2genZc

[Ian S Derbyshire @iansderbyshire]

@NorthernRouteWG @Roger89835988 @eo_hack1 Given that this route used to exist, and the big picture includes the need for:

* better/more resilient infrastructure
* improving connections to, from & within the South West & Dartmoor
* #LevellingUp

making the case 'compelling' is surely do-able!

https://t.co/5kbDOd26pm

[Northern Route Working Group @NorthernRouteWG]

@Roger89835988 @eo_hack1 All the more reason, then, to make a compelling argument for it. DCC has been extremely supportive of the TORS work.

[Northern Route Working Group @NorthernRouteWG]

The latest @Modern_Railways has an article by @AndyRoden1 on the TORS proposals to reopen Exeter-Okehampton-Tavistock-Plymouth. A decade after #Dawlish, we think the proposals are worthy of detailed investigation to establish once and for all whether there's a case.

[Northern Route Working Group @NorthernRouteWG]

@eo_hack1 @Modern_Railways @AndyRoden1 Peter, could we suggest you take a look at the detailed TORS proposals, the support from a host of organisations there? It's impossible to judge the case when we don't have the detailed evaluation needed here. None of the experts who've looked at it have shot it down.

[Andy Bowes-Roden = = @AndyRoden1]

Good show from @AnneMarieMorris here. The @SouthWestRRP is the single most important rail priority for the SW. Money was no object in 2014, remember, and the plan - which runs into the 2070s - still ain't funded despite excellent work by NR. DfT, exdigitate, please.

[Northern Route Working Group @NorthernRouteWG]

@Copperhull Far west is prime supermarket goods on rail territory - but only if availability of a route is virtually guaranteed. Northern Route helps this and is more easily graded than the coastal line too.

[Northern Route Working Group @NorthernRouteWG]

@Copperhull Full #NorthernRoute / #DartmoorLine reinstatement is the great enabler rail freight in the far SW. Not primarily due to #Dawlish but because of its easier gradients and the fact that a way to Plym and beyond is much more certain whatever the weather.

[Northern Route Working Group @NorthernRouteWG]

@Copperhull @AndyRoden1 @TransitionTavi @DevonCC @CllrAndreaDavis Not since Network Rail's 2014 work. Funding is needed for full SOBC and then if it's as good as we think it could be, that's when detailed surveys, route options (because you'll want a few around Tavvy in particular) and so on are done.

[Andy Bowes-Roden = = @AndyRoden1]

A great paper here from @greengauge21 on transport and adaptation to climate change. Note the difference between 'resilience' and 'adaptation'. De-silo transport thinking and above all, plan for the long-term. In the SW, #NorthernRoute/full #DartmoorLine are critical.

[Northern Route Working Group @NorthernRouteWG]

@networkrail @networkrailwest We're on the case working pro bono to establish whether there's a genuinely credible case for full #DartmoorLine reinstatement. We'll be publishing revised analysis before too long. @SouthWestRRP MUST happen though.

[Northern Route Working Group @NorthernRouteWG]

@amotorhomme We'll have it done before long, we're sure. Vital though that @SouthWestRRP is fully funded. A major programme from Teignmouth to Exeter running into the 2070s, #NorthernRoute cd unlock longer blockades to speed it up massively and save £££. Both projects must happen.

[Northern Route Working Group @NorthernRouteWG]

@PaulMer29904765 @Chisholm4Trail @markannand @FgottenRelics Paul, there isn't a definite line of route yet - the work is about establishing whether there's a good case for putting **A** railway back between Tavistock and Okehampton. But we're adamant: GW must be retained in some form and ideally extended as it helps the overall case.

[Northern Route Working Group @NorthernRouteWG]

@PaulMer29904765 @Chisholm4Trail @markannand @FgottenRelics It would bring passengers to Tavistock and Okehampton and if you can create a route that's almost entirely segregated from roads, that's a huge win for the area.

[Northern Route Working Group @NorthernRouteWG]

@PaulMer29904765 @Chisholm4Trail @markannand @FgottenRelics Why not? The expert team can't see a reason why you wouldn't retain the Granite Way nearby if not alongside - the cost of doing so and extending it would be marginal and add to the overall case.

[Greengauge 21 @greengauge21]

Our new year message is that we need to integrate bus and rail services across the whole country - see our first blog of the year: Okehampton's new multi-modal interchange https://t.co/poxPxJfFWd @PlymouthHerald @WMNNews

[Northern Route Working Group @NorthernRouteWG]

@TheMeadie If you find a few hundred million quid down the back of the sofa, do let us know. We could put it to good use...

[Northern Route Working Group @NorthernRouteWG]

It's the 60th anniversary of The Reshaping of British Railways in March. We're hoping to get our revised proposals for this reinstatement out to mark that day. It seems appropriate.

[Northern Route Working Group @NorthernRouteWG]

@PenrhosPete @AndyRoden1 We'll get something out Pete - service spec is being worked up at the moment, from which the infrastructure requirements follow. The SW will have this railway back.

[Northern Route Working Group @NorthernRouteWG]

@Chisholm4Trail @markannand @FgottenRelics If it were possible to extend the Granite Way to the edge of Tavistock, that creates a wonderful multi-use trail that will surely be as much of an attraction as the Camel Trail in Cornwall. A no brainer not just to retain but to enhance as part of the project.