Issue 15, July 2003
Table of Contents
Editorial
Editorial
Compare the facilities provided by the German railway system for the disposal of litter — including recycling options! — with those provided by the home market (where they are provided at all). Planets apart. Why, so often, is this country so consummately succesful in coming up with the most inadequate attempts in the design and production of so many railway ancilliaries? When will our railways opt for something other than the cheapest possible designs, which soon require replacement? Location: Landau on the DB Network Language: Multi-Lingual! Picture: John Gulliver
Chairman's Column Barnstaple Station Spruced Up Rubbish Rail Passengers Council Farewell, Linda! Membership Secretary: Situation Vacant! Getting Away From It All
Two particular dates to note this issue.
Blockades, Buses and Trains Barnstaple Town Council
'Twas Ever Thus: An Appeal The first is this year's News Update AGM. Date: Thursday An Integrated Service: Fact or 23rd October, 18.30. Fantasy? Venue: Barnstaple Fares Maze Library. Last year a Railways and Politics request was made at the AGM to bring the date Letters forward to October, since Membership Matters November's weather is Welcome to new members predictably lousy and the Committee Meetings nights dark and Annual General Meeting miserable. This we have done, and I would suggest that it is becoming more important than ever that we all think carefully about the future of our line, bearing in mind the latest murmurings from Whitehall and its environs. It is not so much that the line is under threat though we must never be complacent - it is more that the promises of the last few years, with jam just around the corner, have once more been the subject of backtracking; the jam may well be put back in its jar! When I became involved in the group, we seemed to be rather at the bottom of a trough, with Wales and West slashing the level of service, obliging Devon County Council to step in with the subsidy of two trains. Since then, two others have been added, courtesy of outside funding via the Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership, and all was set for an hourly service. Although everyone who backed these improvements still do, the SRA and the Rail Regulator are moaning at Network Rail, complaining about lack of funds and overspending. So the threat may be from the top. Where are all the Government's brave words about a rail renaissance now? So, please make every effort to attend this year's AGM. Andrew Griffiths, of Wessex Trains, will talk about his company's plans for the future. He needs to know that we are interested. He needs to know that he has our support for any positive schemes Wessex has for the development of our line. He also needs to know, of course, where we disagree! Most importantly, he needs to know that users of the line care about it. Please come along if you possibly can. The second date to note is Tuesday 2nd September, when members of the group will be out and about between Lapford and Eggesford, indulging in a pleasant evening walk, ending in liquid and other refreshment - as tradition dictates. We always recommend such leisure pursuits to visitors to the area, so come along and share the delights of an evening alongside the Tarka Line, to prove that our recommendations are worth following! Details are to be found on the flyer accompanying this issue. All are welcome. David Gosling
Chairman's Column
It seems that we are fated to live in interesting times. Three things have demanded our attention of late. One, the temporary blockade of the line, with buses replacing trains while engineering work was completed, has been the subject of an exchange of letters between us and Network Rail. The letters are reproduced elsewhere in this issue of the magazine, not least so that members can see just one of the things that the committee gets up to on their behalf. There's no need to say more about title topic here, save to indicate that we have learned a little more since the initial exchange, In particular, we have discovered that it Is now Network Rail's policy to have blockades whenever substantial engineering work is done. The reasons given are practical and economic. There is a huge amount of work to be done over the whole network just to sustain the present level of service, let alone to advance on it Much of this involves catching up on a backlog of work that has built up over many years, Manpower is limited. So, too, is machinery, Both are expensive. The best has to be got from them In the shortest possible time and within tight budgets. Blockades are the most effective way of meeting this objective, hence we must look forward to more blockades, This goes not just for the main routes, but also for the North Devon line, where, even though much has already been achieved, more awaits, In the circumstances, it seems wise that we learn to live with the approach, At a recent Rail Passengers Council meeting, we have, however, urged two things. First, proper notice must be given of intending blockades so that would-be travellers can make alternative arrangements. Second, much more needs to be done to inform the public of the long-term benefits that should follow, so that confidence in the North Devon line is sustained. Both points were well received. Secondly, as members will have seen from the papers and television, there has been a great deal of noise, if not always much light, about the prospect of radio masts along the line. None of us on the committee claims expertise on the scientific issues involved. All see how the call for better communications on the railway stems from the Ladbroke Grove crash especially, although some of us do not understand why a branch line like ours should require facilities as elaborate as those for the main line. In all probability, it is a matter of political nerve, and there appears to be no-one in high places with enough of this to call for a more measured response. So, we have come to accept that something will be done along the line. Nevertheless, we retain our feelings for Devon's beautiful landscape. When pressed, we say that, provided that it could be done at reasonable cost, the scheme we would most want is the one that is the least visually intrusive. That, some say, involves a 'wiggly wire' system, laid at track level. Here, though. I must enter a personal request. Please don't ask me how it works. The blank look on my face would speak volumes, And the third of these things that make an interesting life? None other than 'Back to Beeching'. We gave prominence in the last issue to some of the claims being made about the future of our rural lines. Since then, Dr Paul Salveson, Manager of the Association of Community Rail Partnerships and highly regarded by those interested in local railways, has put it in writing that he sees no evidence to suppose that they are threatened. I have seen it reported (but did not hear him myself) that Alistair Darling has been heard to say on the radio that there is no substance in rumours of a cull. Now, far be it from me to question the word of one of our national leaders, but I remain uneasy, Just today, the 14th of July, as I write this, the House of Commons Select Committee has announced that it is initiating a new inquiry. Its title? 'The Future of the Railway'. The press release starts with the assertion by Tom Winsor, the Rail Regulator, that railways are 'the Victorian legacy to us ... an extraordinary network of narrow land corridors, city centre to city centre, going all over the country, and to turn them into roads would be an unbelievable waste. It is a system which the country needs, particularly in conurbations with commuter services into London and other larger cities', Note what is emphasised: London; larger cities: commuter services. then look at some of the questions the Committee intends to address: Is the Regulator right, or is rail an outmoded form of transport? Is the present network the right one; if not, how should it be changed? What sort of traffic is the network best used for? Important questions? Yes. Indicative of the view that it matters much more that some lines should be retained, but not others? I don't know. Of course, the Select Committee does not make government policy, it scrutinises it. But, in scrutinising, it (rightly) asks questions others would like to put, including those who hold no brief for rural lines. In my view, we need to have our own answers ready. Is the Barnstaple line an example of an outmoded form of transport? And, if it is not, why should we ask the community to support its retention? Letters to our esteemed Editor, please! John Gulliver
Barnstaple Station Spruced Up However slow the development of the station master's house, the rest of the station at Bamstaple has taken a decided turn for the better. Windows, regularly polished, gleam. Floors are swept and washed. Copper and brass fittings in the toilets are burnished. Fresh paint is appearing on doors, obliterating the graffiti which appear all too often. Much of this work is down to the efforts of Chris Whitehead, recently appointed by Wessex trains to look after the stations at the northern end of the line. Meanwhile, as I write, the flowers are in full bloom, both on the approach road and at the station itself. Such things are a credit to those concerned. People notice them. Their comments are most positive. John Gulliver
Rubbish A dangerous heading for one whose literary limitations are all too apparent. Recently I made several journeys between Southport and Liverpool - 19 miles, 11 stations, and a train every 15 minutes. I noticed that every station had several transparent waste collection bags. More recently I saw some on Golders Green station, yet we are not allowed to have a similar receptacle at Barnstaple! Whilst I am not a betting man, and I know little about terrorist activities, I am willing to rush a modest ten pence that Golders Green is way above Barnstaple on any terrorist's hit list! We rail passengers really are a dirty lot. Why cannot we take home the litter which we brought with us and put the drinks and food cartons in the bins provided? On one occasion I travelled from Plymouth to Totnes; the train had just arrived from Dundee. The amount of litter was appalling and the whole train looked as though it had been assaulted by a deranged newsagent. On a much more constructive note, have you noticed how much cleaner Barnstaple Station is? This is due to Wessex Trains recent recruit, Chris Whitehead, whose duties John Gulliver has spelt out here. In addition to these, Chris travels on the 10:14 from Barnstaple, collecting litter and cleaning floors and the glass partitions adjacent to the doors. Alighting at Yeoford, he cleans the waiting room there and empties the litter bin (yes, there are still some on the line, so why can we not have more?) before returning on the next down working, performing the same functions as before. This kind of attention to passengers' journey experience is to be much lauded and, if at all possible, expanded upon. Wessex are to be congratulated on showing a bit of responsible care in these matters. Hugh Butterworth
Rail Passengers Council The Rail Passengers Council (RPC) was formed prior to privatisation to look after passengers' interests. It is divided into regions and we come under the Rail Passengers Committee for Western England. In February 2003 the SRA agreed with the RPC that the latter should be consulted over timetabling. Even at short notice the RPC managed to make some improvements to the September 2003 timetable and hope to make more to the timetable for May 2004. The SRA will be concentrating on badly-performing timetables to see how these can be improved, as, for example, by altering calling patterns. Thus, a peak time train which is underused, might be required to make extra stops in order to relieve overcrowded trains. Also, attention will be given to where fast and slow trains have to operate on the same lines as for example between Exeter and Newton Abbot.
Congestion has received a great deal of publicity and we will see some reduction in services in order to tackle this problem. Much of the Inter-City network is operating at full capacity and, while the number of train kilometres travelled has increased by 60%, the passenger increase is only 10%. It seems that 60% of delays are reactionary; that is delays to trains which are not involved in the incident which causes the delay, and efforts will be made to reduce these. Incidentally, there are about 450 bridge strikes every year: a line might have to be closed for two or three hours while the bridge is checked, and longer if repairs have to be carried out. The effect on a busy main line can be considerable. Perhaps Network Rail should pursue compensation claims more strongly against the owners of the lorries and buses concerned. That might concentrate a few minds. If you have any comments to make on timetables, please pass them on to us and we will bring them up with our Rail Passengers Committee. Hugh Butterworth
Farewell, Linda! Linda Rogers has been our Membership Secretary for some time now. She took over the role from David Gosling, who had inherited it, seemingly long ago, from Bob Watson, still one of our stalwart members. Together with David, she has worked up and run — very efficiently — a computer-based system to replace the card indexes we used for so long. And, if that were not enough, she has recently played a central role producing the group magazine in its present format. Now, she and her family have moved from the flood plains of Yeoford to the sunny south at Torquay. She's embarked on an extended Open University course which she must somehow fit around the demands of running the Station Tea Rooms and Craft Shop at Crediton. All this on top of bringing up two young children! Unsurprisingly, something has to go. That something is the job of Membership Secretary. Thus we must bid her farewell, with regret, of course, for we have greatly appreciated all that she has done on behalf of the group, but also with understanding. Our consolation is that it will not be a total parting. Her interest in the work of the group will remain. She'll still be there almost daily at the Tea Rooms with Rosemary, serving up some of the best coffee for miles around. Without doubt, her husband Richard will also be there from time to time, regaling us with stories of his work-related travels around the country. So, on everyone's behalf, thank you, Linda, for all that you have done. We'll all be pleased to keep in touch! John Gulliver
Membership Secretary: Situation Vacant! So, we will shortly be without a Membership Secretary, one of the key posts for sustaining the group, and we urgently need someone else to take on the role. Ideally, it would be someone who knows his or own way around computers, so that the system David and Linda have developed could be taken over, lock, stock and barrel. The group would, of course, pay all necessary out-of-pocket expenses. The computer software has been explicitly written to cater for all the group's requirements and is currently being further updated with increased facilities and comprehensive help screens. It may also be possible to arrange for free loan of a computer, via the group, so even non-possession of a computer would not preclude anyone who would otherwise help from doing so! Do please get in touch with me, by phone or letter, if you think that you might be able to take this job on. You don't need to have had experience of such work before, just a willingness to pitch in. Moreover, Linda and David have kindly offered to give all the assistance that is asked for to take things over. If you might be interested, why riot phone one or other of them to find out what the job involves? Their numbers are inside the back cover. John Gulliver
Getting Away From It All (With acknowledgements to E. P. Leigh-Bennett and S. P. B. Mais, much-missed Southern Railway-commissioned authors of creative prose.) Chapleton station nestles, it should be said, in its valley; no other verb describes its situation quite so accurately. A minute before noon, on a beautiful, early-summer day, I alighted here and, appreciatively viewing the station floral arrangements, waited for the accelerating train to clear the platform before crossing over to the up side, where the old station master's house stands, sleepy in the June sun. Alongside the station house is to be found a footpath that passes, almost immediately, through an iron railway gate and into a field. A short walk across this field brings you to a footbridge, crossing the Taw on three piers, buttressed - and buttressed again, in an effort to tackle the flooding waters that surge, five miles downstream to Barnstaple, in the winter months. Today the piers reveal the low ebb of summer sunshine — twinkling waters surround their base; winter's ravages must wait another six months. Continue away from the bridge down a track to a field, its crop young, still green. You are in the open. Across the valley, glued to the far slope, cows graze quietly: you are too far away for them yet to notice you. Look to your left and you will see a most imposing residence, away across the fields, higher up on the far side. Consult the map: 'Hall', it states. Not very helpful. Herner Hall? Woolstone Hall? Or some other name? At any rate, its grey facade, with hints of pink brick, stands symmetrical, square to the face of the sun. Valley views from its near-perfectly-propoitioned windows are not for the likes of me; nor you, unless you are of above average means. Well above. There are cones underfoot: the cause stands sternly above you, dark green on grey, bowing under the heat and the weight of its own spring growth. Far, far to the right, Atherington perches, down away over the valley of the Taw and up again on its farther side. It seems so still, simmering quietly in the heat-haze. Can anything ever move there at all, I wonder? Through a second short field we arrive at a narrow lane. Homer is a quarter of a mile to the left, but we turn to the right, disturbing the kine who, now, come precipitately unstuck, each from their own particular patch of green, and run off: young animals unused to folk on foot, unless it be their own farmer. I left the train fifteen minutes ago. The road is tangibly not well-used: by stout oak and foxglove, it winds south-east, loosely following the line of the railway, which prefers to cling firmly to the other side of the flood plain. The full force of spring is much in evidence: cow-parsley, buttercup, some persistent holly, and the allpervading nettle, flank the tarred surface — but always far enough away to avoid a sting. A farm cat, one hundred yards away, sits doggedly (may a cat be said to sit doggedly?) in the middle of the road, eyeing my approach, Seeing that 1 do not turn aside, he slides off twenty yards to the right, and awaits my passing. You know what he is thinking: 'A walking human; a rare animal, indeed!' His farm sleeps on in the Devon sun. A beetle wanders on its undisturbed way across the tarmac, the latter topped with the shallow growth that typically populates the lesser-used byways; a squirrel, not seeing but hearing the approach of shoed feet, secretes himself, swift and silent, in the hedge to the right. The gently rising slope now levels for a while and a view is found to the right, over the hedge, west across to the railway line. A train is heard — but not seen — approaching Chapleton station: your train returning from Barnstaple. The birds, the insects (both with arid without flight), and the train; the only sounds to be heard. The train stops: you cannot know who boards or who alights, from your vantage point, but someone obviously does! Restarting, the train climbs the valley, echoes of wheel on rail rising as it approaches. softening and fading as it moves south and away, There are, on board. passengers for Exeter, no doubt, arid, perhaps, Waterloo. We pass through a sunlit-dappled copse; the river is heard, plashing, down and right. A dancing dragonfly hovers before your face, and is gone. We cross a small stone bridge - how ancient can this be? how many feet here before ours? — over a beck; the River Hawkridge, apparently, though river is really too grand a word. An irate sheep, — clearly audible among others of his kind who are, like him, irritable though a little less vocal, calls across the Hawkridge Valley from somewhere on the left side, out of view, as we climb steadily, heading slightly away from the railway, and the Taw, along the south side of the Hawkridge. Now, approaching the
summit, short of two hundred feet above the river, there is a gap in the hedge to the left, arid a view across the valley opens tip. The Hawkridge, hidden below, separates you from the offending sheep, now clearly seen as white dots across a far distance — too far, you would have thought, for bleating to be so distinctly audible. We arrive at a dog-legged crossroads: the first, arid last, road junction on our stroll. It boasts a fingerpost, and a choice of verges where we may sit and take our coffee and biscuits. Here we meet the only vehicle so far encountered — and this stationary. Our very own British telephone company (you know the one!), up a pole; appropriate, some might say! To the south, the Taw winds unseen in its vale towards Umberleigh and, somewhere below, a mile before us, the station is lost in the trees. The fingerpost kindly informs us that Herner is two miles away, along the road we have come; Umberleigh, it declares, is one mile to the right, steep down the valley slope. A train rattles north, audible, invisible, in the still air. As you walk down the hill, the river is suddenly before you, lined on each side with a rich, green growth of trees, and glinting darkly in the middle distance. Till now, 1 had seen more aeroplanes than moving road vehicles; and this, after nearly two and a half miles of road. was not to change until the walk was completed. And 1 had seen just one aeroplane. A tolling bell, crisp, vibrant across the deep fields, tells us that lunchtime is over for the children of Umberleigh School, as we come to a sharp lefthand turn by a house at Hoe, as the map tells us. Here, there is a grassed path, a public right of way, you may be assured, to the right, hard by. Don't miss it, for here is the way to the last gem of the walk, and a bright one. With something like a Devon bank on its right and a garden fence on its left, this path slopes down away from the road, and at right angles to it, through to a stile under some trees. Over this stile, keep to the left and through a gateway and cross to a further stile in the middle of the fence straddling the field. Thence keep always to the right. You will be walking along the east bank of the Taw, close to its waters and its voice. Twice, your path will be, apparently, thwarted by the edge of fields. Not so. Keep, as 1 said, always to the right, and a path will be found, often signposted, always evident. Eventually, after a quarter of a mile or so, the path will bring you to the junction of the river and the railway, just below the station, but don't rush; rivers are not made for such things. Where the three ways meet, the path will go under the railway at the river bridge itself and on up the other side. Land of a more open aspect is now encountered once more, but it is easy to find the way. You are now between the railway and the river, with the Umberleigh to South Molton road on your left. If you have walked steadily, An hour and a half will nearly have passed. But if you dawdled, then the train will have gone. But catch the next one; the countryside, and the river, will have deserved your attention and your time. Pressing forwards will bring you to the road hard by The Gables Tea Rooms, with the Rising Sun public house a little further on for those whose taste is less refined. Depending on the choice made earlier - to step out or to idle - you may need to turn left, where you will find the station approach, your train may soon be due. Though, perhaps, a pot of tea and some light fare; a nest in the sun and a slow stroll to the station afterwards, is to be preferred. On the whole, I think I favour the latter. David Gosling
Blockades, Buses and Trains Great strides have been made over the past year or so towards making the North Devon Line's infrastructure fit for today's purposes. Flood defences have been strengthened. Much track has been relayed or resleepered. New, greatly-improved station waiting shelters have been installed at many of the smaller stations. Much of the work involved has been done at night, with little disturbance to passengers. Recently, however, a different approach has been taken. At short notice, the line was closed for a week while Network Rail completed work on the track near Coleford. Buses replaced the trains throughout each day until the work was finished. It was an example of what has come to be known as the 'blockade' approach to engineering work, one now much used by Network Rail throughout the country: suspend rail services completely while needed work is completed. The local media faithfully reproduced Network Rail's account of why this approach had been adopted. It was, they reported, in response to complaints by people living near the line about the noises of night working. Others pointed out that blockades were
increasingly prevalent elsewhere, not least because they were cheaper than the more protracted operations associated with night work. What was beyond doubt was that passengers were less than happy with the approach. Buses simply could not match the service normally provided by the trains. Complaints rolled in. We discussed the matter in some detail in committee, We had sympathy for the difficulties of people living near the line caused by engineering work undertaken at night. We believed, however, that they were short-lived and unlikely to be repeated for a long time to come. With proper notice, the effects could have been minimised. Of greater concern was the possibility that blockades might become Network Rail's preferred approach for future engineering work. This, we believed, would not only be to the disadvantage of the line's current users, it would reinforce a perception, stemming from the floods of recent years, that the service could not be relied on. In the longer term, this could only be to the detriment of the line. With this in mind, a letter has been sent to Network Rail to show our concern. A copy is reproduced below. So, too, is Network Rail's courteous response.
Mr J Curley, Director, Network Rail Great Western Dear Mr Curley, Exeter-Barnstaple line On behalf of the North Devon Rail Users Group, I have two points to make. Both relate to the engineering work being done on the above line. First, we strongly welcome the work that is being done on the line to overcome its many deficiencies and to prepare it for an enhanced role in Devon's transport provision for the future. We recognise the advances that have already been made, not least with respect to flood defences, station improvements and, in some parts, better track. We trust that what we have seen so far is but part of a long term programme of enhancement Second, the welcome we give to this work is clouded by the thought that blockades of the kind recently seen on the line may be the preferred way of pushing it forward in future. From the users' viewpoint, this has three disadvantages. Each relates to the bus provision laid on when 'lie trains do not run: - No matter how lavish the provision, buses do not offer the speed or reliability of the trains. This is largely a consequence of the main road they must use, namely the A377. For much of its length it is winding and much-used by slowmoving farm vehicles. It passes through Crediton, a town prone to traffic jams at the times people most want to travel. At both ends are towns notorious for their traffic congestion. These problems constantly undermine the most carefully made timetables. They turn making connections and keeping appointments into a lottery; - Some of the smaller townships served by the line, such as Yeoford, lie some way off the main road. The trains play a vital role in serving their transport needs. The provision of alternative transport for the often unpredictable variations in passenger demand is exceptionally difficult. Moreover, any service that is laid on is subject to the difficufties faced by the Bamstaple-Exeter route as a whole; - Buses do not provide the full service offered by the trains. In particular, there is no provision for wheelchair users, cyclists and people with push chairs. Blockades effectively cut off such users' transport provision altogether. I would point out that these problems are real. The evidence for them comes in a stream of complaints, not only from our 200-strong membership, but also from the public at large. Frequently, they are accompanied by the words 'Not again!'. As such, they reflect a widespread perception that the rail service is unreliable and therefore to be avoided wherever possible. This last is most unfortunate, for Wessex Trains has worked hard in the past months to demonstrate its commitment to the rail service this part of Devon needs. With this in mind, we would
And the reply ... Mr J Gulliver, Chairman - North Devon Rail Users Group Dear Mr Gulliver, Exeter-Barnstaple line Thank you for your letter dated 28 May regarding engineering works on the above line. I was pleased to see your welcome of the work and I have noted the comments you kindly supplied. I am aware of the inconvenience works of this nature can cause and I would like to assure you that every effort is made to minimise any disruption. However, without this work, it would have been necessary to impose severe line restrictions over several miles of track. With this in mind, the work needed to be carried out promptly and efficiently. Concentrating the work into one week was the best way of achieving this. The week's work was carried out with the support of Wessex Trains and local residents, many of whom had campaigned against prolonged and noisy night time work which had earlier been taking place. I understand your concerns regarding replacement buses, and although there are disadvantages such as the ones you refer to, they are the most practical alternative to rail when blockades of the line, such as this one, are necessary, Thank you, once again, for taking the time to contact me. Yours sincerely, John Curley, Regional Director Readers may prefer to form their own opinions about the implications of this letter. For our part, at our most recent committee meeting, we affirmed our view that blockades should only be used as a last resort. Unless our members at large indicate that this is not what they would want, we shall continue to argue for it wherever we can. John Gulliver
= The Stationmaster's House = For some time, speculation about the stationmaster's house at Barnstaple has been rife. Could it be developed into something that would benefit rail users and the wider community? A youth hostel, perhaps? Tea rooms on the lines of the superb refurbishment of the original building at Crediton station? Something else? Richard Burningham, of the Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership, wants something done. So does Andrew Griffiths, of Wessex Trains. Devon County Council has been toying with possibilities for months, even years. For our part, we certainly want to see this fine, but currently semi-derelict building put to good use. So, when the opportunity arose in mid-May to tour the building in connection with the activities of the Tarka Line Working Party, Hugh
Butterworth and I seized it with alacrity on NDRUG's behalf. Andrew Griffiths and Richard Burningham duly conducted those who dared to enter around the premises. The tour revealed a building that was structurally sound, but in need of very substantial repair. Several ceilings were down. Many walls were more lath than plaster. Little glass remained in the windows and some of the chipboard that had replaced it was missing. A thick layer of dust lay everywhere, not least over a variety of junk left on the floors over many years by railway personnel. One door, off its hinges, bore the legend 'R. Beeching: Structural Engineer'. It was clear that refurbishment was possible, given the will, proper surveying, architectural involvement and quite a bit of money. Richard Burningham said that, while Rail Passenger Partnership funding was no longer available, funding could be found from alternative sources. Andrew Griffiths was keen to retain the main architectural features, including the stone windows and interior shutters. There was much talk of what could be done with the upper floors. Office and/or residential accommodation - perhaps as flats - were suggested. The latter got the most support, primarily because it would offer 24-hour occupancy. No firm indications of the time scale for such developments were given. Richard Burningham suggested that Devon County Council was expected to come up with Initial plans within the next three months. What these might entail was not clear, not least because DCC - and just about everyone else - appeared to be uncertain about precisely what was wanted. That said, enthusiasm for doing something was strongly voiced, not least by Janet Preston (Barnstaple Town Council). We're not holding our breath, but we watch for developments with great interest. The building is too good to waste. We'll keep members informed. John Gulliver
Barnstaple Town Council Members will be delighted to know that our links with Barnstaple Town Council have been re-established, This pleases us greatly, for we believe that mutual benefits can flow from a constructive dialogue with local government. Councillor Janet Preston has been nominated as the Council's representative. That pleases us even more, for many of us have seen the interest she shows in the North Devon line through her participation in the Tarka Line Working Party. Welcome aboard, Janet! John Gulliver
'Twas Ever Thus: An Appeal Ours is a small committee. On behalf of the group's members, it gets through a prodigious amount of work. The problem is, the greater the ambition, the more work there is to do. 'Twas ever thus, I suppose, but it would help greally if we could spread the load a bit. We'd appreciate it hugely if one or two members would lend a hand, however modest their efforts might be. Yes, it does involve work. But it is interesting and not all of it is onerous. Moreover, it's done in good company, sometimes with passion and often with humour. in fact, if I may say this on behalf of the others, we're not a bad lot, really. Some of us can even look quite presentable, although in one or two cases, our passport photographs have been there so long as to make prosecution under the Trade Descriptions Act a distinct possibility.
Some may read into this last comment a suspicion that we would welcome a greater involvement in what we do by women. If so, they'd be right. After all, they make up at least half the number of rail users and we need to hear more of their voices. That said, we'd welcome newcomers of either gender. Just speak to any one of us informally if you think you might be interested. John Gulliver
News Update We understand that some pans of the Bristol-Penzance line will be closed every weekend this winter. Also, further work is scheduled for the Tarka Line during this period. There will be a review of fares during the coming winter. We hope that there will be special offers. It would be very helpful to the committee if you could tell us what fares would tempt you to travel to Exeter, Exmouth, Teignmouth and Torbay. In connection with the hoped-for introduction of a clockface timetable it is intended to schedule First Great Western and Virgin services, which are both hourly, so thal they run thirty minutes apart. These, together with Wessex services and the occasional South West Trains service, would give a very good service between Exeter and South Devon. Hugh Butterworth The North Devon line, along with others in the South West, was weed-sprayed in mid-June by the specially adapted, self-propelled TRAMM rail vehicle. Sampford Courtenay station, on the line between Yeoford and Okehampton (closed in June 1972) has not yet been reopened as intended. In fact. work has not yet even restarted there due to funding not being finalised. Network Rail is to have work carried out on the line to secure bridge girders to the stone/masonry piers on most of the vulnerable river bridges to allow trains to cross during high water or flooding, thus permitting them to run for a longer time before suspension of services is authorised due to safety concerns. The line's service, rather uninterrupted of late, was affected recently by a tractor running away and hitting a power line near Salmon Pool level crossing, a little west of Crediton. at around 08.30. About four trains had to be replaced by buses between Crediton and Eggesford until full service could be restored. Tony Hill Funding has been earmarked for the repair of Barnstaple's station clock. The nature of the fault has been investigated, and a solution identified. It remains only for Wessex Trains to give the go-ahead for the repair — so long awaited — to be undertaken. It would be nice for it to be ready for the 150th anniversary of the Crediton-Barnstaple line. A new mobile carriage washer, costing barely 1% of a fixed installation, has been installed at Exeter. Wessex Trains sees this as evidence of its drive to improve the external cleanliness of its rolling stock fleet. David Gosling
An Integrated Service: Fact or Fantasy? I have been in receipt of a copy of a letter, reproduced below, sent to Ian Harrison of Devon County Council by Mr Peter Wood — not a member, but a visitor on holiday in our county — who has taken the opportunity to appraise the Council of the ridiculous situation that obtains with regard to the available connections — or, rather, complete absence of them — between North Devon line trains and those to Okehampton on summer Sundays. This embarrassing anomaly has persisted for a few years, now, in spite of frequent objections and corresponding promises to correct it.
I understand that some kind of inclusive fare from stations on our line — which is to incorporate existing Rover facilities — is in the planning stage. If this is so, then it will be an error of the order of the 'wrong kind of snow' if the bargain day out allows as little as three minutes at Okehampton because of the timetable structure! The press will love that! Mr Wood's letter is as follows: Dr lan Harrison Devon County Council County Hall Exeter EX24QD 19th May 2003 Dear Sir, I am writing to you, on the advice of the users consultative body, as the person responsible for subsidised rail routes in the Devon area. They inform me that this matter has been raised before, but unsuccessfully. My wife and I, in the course of a very pleasant holiday in Devon, tried to travel from Umberleigh to Okehampton last Sunday. We hoped to be able to spend at least one hour in Okehampton and return in time for our evening meal about 8pm. A perusal of the timetable will indicate that this is impossible because, perversely, every connection misses at Crediton. As an example of this, the 11am from Barnstaple, which could easily be timetabled to leave 20 minutes earlier, misses the connection by 15 minutes. We understand the user group were given a promise, this year, that this would be rectified. In anticipation, I look forward to your dealing with this matter and reply within a reasonable period. I would suggest three weeks. I do intend to pursue this matter further if your organisation fails to satisfy what at this stage seems an easily resolvable situation. Peter J Wood You cannot leave Barnstaple earlier than the 11.00 departure on Sundays, This train arrives at Crediton at 11.50, the Okehampton train having already left at 11.35. The next departure is at 13.30 arriving at Okehampton at 13.59. Thus, it has taken three hours — less one minute — to travel only from North to Mid Devon; you can get to Plymouth in much less time than this! If you wish to spend more than three minutes at Okehampton — not an unreasonable desire, 1 should have thought — you would let the next up train, the 14.02, leave without you, waiting instead for the 16.12. This arrives at Crediton at 16.39. The train for Barnstaple, you will find, would have left at 16.28. The next is not until 20.34! and this, the last down train of the day, arrives at Barnstaple at 21.26. (Even the connection from Cornwall for this train doesn't leave Penzance until 17.30!) Thus, it would have taken you 5hrs 14mins to get frorn Okehampton to Barnstaple! Your day has begun at 11.00 and ended at 21.26 — 10hrs 26 mins — and has given you the princely total of 2hrs 13 mins at Okehampton. I wonder if anyone has ever even bothered to make this journey. Of course, you could spend 4hrs 21mins at Okehampton, leaving at 18.20 vice 16.12, and only have to wait 1hr 47mins instead of 3hrs 55mins, at Crediton — a mere snip! By then, of course, the Tea Rooms would have closed. This dreadfully wasteful situation, ensuring that people from North Devon eschew the train for the car (this is known to be the case) is, I am afraid, a prime example of running a railway to suit the operator and not the passenger. You would be better off terminating your journey at Creditor, which is what I believe Mr Wood did.
The coffee's better, anyway. David Gosling
Fares Maze I am continually astonished by the variety of fares offered by Virgin Trains. Whilst I am not likely even to wish to travel from London to Carlisle, the range of tickets available to me is staggering. First class return, at any time, with full English breakfast, followed by hot and cold snacks, complimentary papers, tea, coffee, non-alcoholic and alcoholic drinks served at seat — a mere £277, A standard return, travel at any time, £192. Leaving the realms of fantasy, if one travels off-peak, a Business Saver is £128; Weekender £88.30 and Saver £70.90. Moving towards my method of travel and specifying which trains I wish to use, a single ticket purchased three days ahead is £26 (£52 return); seven days ahead is £21 (£42 return) and fourteen days ahead £14.50 (£29 return). If one holds a railcard then all fares are reduced by one third, so that the fourteen day advance ticket would be reduced to £19.34. This for a round trip totalling 598 miles. What the above shows is that it always pays to book early if you can. With the help of 2 railcard, my journey frorn Barnstaple to Southport was only £29.70 return. If I booked the day before travel the cost would have been around £60. Hugh Butterworth
Railways and Politics During my working life on British Railways, it was asserted from time to time, by various colleagues, that the biggest obstacle to running the railway properly was the existence of passengers. If it were not for them, the assertion went, everything would be easy. Most of the people I worked with, however, had a finely tuned notion of what it was to be a railwayman, and would help those same passengers on their way, often to a degree that was not to be expected of them. Not all were like this, of course, but even I have been known to assist lost souls on the concourse at Waterloo and, at the other extreme, place my hind on the shoulder of a youth leaving Andover station without having paid his fare and obviously intent on not doing so. It is fraud; unforgivably unfair on those who paid their fares. Those who paid their fares also, of course, paid my wages. I worked, all my railway life, divorced from the sharp edge, away from the passengers, the trains, the platforms. I started at Beckenham Junction, at the Divisional Manager's Office, South Eastern Division, Southern Region in 1974. I checked guard's delay slips, to identify weak spots that continually resulted in delays to trains due to conflicting timetabling arrangements. I moved on to drivers' diagramming and, shortly afterwards, rolling stock diagramming, together with a bit of special traffic timetabling. I wasn't the best at it, by any means. Those around me were responsible, amongst other things, for sifting trains — rolling stock, drivers and guards — through the two tracks between London Bridge and Charing Cross (together with those to Cannon Street). This was Borough Market Junction, with a train every two or three minutes. They did this terribly difficult task with the skill and expertise that comes only through years of application and experience. Timetabling rush-hour services through places like Borough Market Junction is a notoriously tricky job to do effectively and makes anything we have to contend with here in Devon a picnic by comparison. Nevertheless, day after day, the trains ran, some days better than others. And all the time, from my window at Waterloo (I had moved to the Central Timings Office, Southern Region after a couple of years at Beckenham), I could see the trains moving smoothly below on to Hungerford Bridge and so to Charing Cross: trains diagrammed by those talented colleagues I used to know some twenty-five years ago, both at Beckenham and Waterloo In watching those trains, I was also watching, through their windows, those who were paying for my bread and butter, for my next set of guitar strings, or the mortgage on my house.
When I moved to Reading, as a trainee computer programmer, I was yet again in an office away from the trains and the passengers. But I would wander, most lunchtimes, up to the station and watch that inimitable railway picture: that unique world of comings and goings, of luggage and teddy-bear-clutching children, of whistles, closing doors, and rearing diesel engines. And that fearsome station announcer, made famous by Terry Wogan, who, when she said that there was a fast train approaching and that you should stand back from the edge of the platform, you did exactly what she said, for she meant it. Passengers did stand back; you could see them do it! There were occasions to help there, too, The lady, with a small child and a pushchair, who could not negotiate the stairs up to the platform from the subway below. I lost a couple of packets of biscuits over that. I placed my plastic bag at the foot of the stairs, carried her pushchair to the top, waved away her thank you with a self-deprecating lowering of the eyes — and saw that my carrier bag had been removed. It could not have taken more than fifteen seconds. Reading was never my favourite city. I moved, after a few years, to the freight department at BR Headquarters at Marylebone. The building was (and still is) the old Great Central Railway's London hotel, directly opposite Marylebone Station. The stairs were splendid (a hint of Astaire and Rogers; top hat, tails and flowing white dresses), the rooms spacious: and Regent's Park, scene of my university days, was close by. The further up the stairs you went at Marylelbone HQ, the less splendid did things become: I was on the second floor. Not bad. We later moved to Euston House, hard by Euston Station: a distinct comedown. My feeling of belonging to the railway never left me, though I used to get irritated with the institution itself — like most of us, from time to time. But I never lost that — that inclination to help that came with being part of the family. I left after thirteen and a half years. It was not a happy departure. The future looked bad. Sealink was about to be privatised. Apparently Margaret Thatcher held said, amongst other things, that she did not see why a railway should run a shipping line. Whereas, for the life of me, I couldn't see why on Earth it shouldn't! It had done so for scores of years, with conspicuous success — and the trains even integrated with the boats — now there's a novelty! Right up until my last day of service, I never so much as lifted a coupling hook; never issued a ticket. But I was always a railwayman. It sounds trite, but it really is a phenomenon from which it is difficult to escape, I always recognised the passenger as being the single most necessary factor in the continued viability of my vocation. The passenger, I fear, is not viewed as such now. The supermarket cry used to be: 'Pile 'em high, sell 'em cheap'. I rather feel that the modern railway designs its carriages on the 'Squash em in, charge 'em lots' principle. And I was, of course, not alone. The engineers — Gobbies, we used to call thern at Beckenham, I don't know why — worked for the railway, too. They also were railwaymen. They were allocated, generally speaking, to areas; they got to know well the structures and lines for which they had responsibility. Many worked, of course, at night. But those working by the track at daytime, standing back to allow the passage of the 14.18 Dartford-Charing Cross, would still look up at the windows of the passing train and see, like I saw, the faces of those going to work in the city, who would earn their own living and so provide the means of paying the wages of those who were looking up at them: those who looked after the lines over which they were passing! How much of this is fairy story? Politics has decreed that the track workers who gaze up at today's passengers should — or, at any rate, could — be part of a gang who are sub-contracted to do the work by a sub-contractor who is further contracted to do the work on behalf of Network Rail. The individual worker himself may, technically, be self-employed. He is one of many thousands — more, I read, than the total number of staff, of all grades, working for BR prior to privatisation — who now are licensed to work on the track. (Think about that last statement a little, about what it is really saying, before reading on.) When he looks up at a passing passenger, he sees only a person in a railway carriage. In this example, his wages are paid for by his boss, who is paid, in turn, by his company, which is paid by the sub-contractor, who works on behalf of the contractor from whom he receives his money. And the contractor, finally, is paid by Network Rail. And all the contractor companies within this chain have to find money to put in the bank as profits, including, where appropriate, funds to look after shareholders, And some, apparently, still find it difficult to pinpoint areas of financial waste! This market-led initiative. the brainchild of an incompetent administration — the government of the day — was to result, we were told, in better economies; and subsidy reductions would be the result. This wretched scheme was to be the answer to the nationalised railway's problems. I would give it another, much less polite, name.
The term railwayman, at the time of privatisation, was a dirty word. Of all the colleagues I left behind, not one has since had a kind word to say about developments that followed that misbegotten policy. And all are too familiar with the oft-quoted accusation that all such persons — these railwaymen — live in the past, are shackled by tradition, cosseted and lacking in initiative. Those accusers never worked on the railway that I knew. I left a set of imperfect individuals who were always trying to make the best of an inadequately financed organisation — we could never borrow on the open market as could a private company. We were overseen by political administrations who used to change their minds every few months, according to political expedience, a vile state of affairs that has never changed. There was amongst us, it is true, never a feeling of progress, as far as I could tell. We were always battling against uncharitable developments in both the passenger and freight sectors, and initiatives were difficult to come by: they were also difficult to implement, took too long, and were always, by definition, against the prevailing wind, which was one of decline. The nationalised railway was not perfect. I felt, when I left in the mid-eighties, that a change would be a good thing — but not this, Not this! All the time the situation obtains whereby the owners of the track are not the owners, and operators, of the trains, we are going to continue to have this ridiculous bickering and bureaucratic insanity that is today's railway. Picture the scene. Network Rail delays a company's trains, so pays a penalty, to that company. The company offended, in consequence, delays another company's trains and, so too, pays a penalty. Paper money going round and round in ever increasing circles to no-one's benefit. And, of course, if a TOC behaves badly, what do you do? You penalise that company by confiscating funds which, in part, you have given them in the first place. Finally, you expect them to pull their socks up, having just removed some of the finance that might have enabled them to do so! On, how very sensible! A further small but indicative tale: Network Rail, we shall say, paints a footbridge one colour — not that of the train operator's livery — because the footbridge is deemed not to be 'part of the station'. What is it part of, then, if not the station? The local cinema? So now we have a multi-coloured station. This is, of course, abject madness. But it is brought about by fragmentation; conflicting aims of disparate companies serving different ends. They should have one aim, one purpose, one target: the well-being of the passenger. This will never be realised with the squabbling derivative of a system where the passenger is so far removed from the immediacy of perception, and where everyone, effectively, is not on the same side. That platelayer I spoke of earlier will never be part of the railway industry. He will never identify with it. Indeed, after working a day on the track, his job next week, possibly for the same company, may not even be on the railway at all. This is not rose-coloured spectacle stuff. Don't look at the arguer, look at his argument. Don't say that, because I worked on the railway, I would say that, wouldn't I. Look at the situation. Look at the misspent money. Look at the pockets into which it has gone. Look at the wealth of experience that has been discarded, simply thrown away, particularly on the engineering side — track and rolling stock. Look at the retreat of the indigenous rolling stock construction industry: it isn't all due to an inferior product, if at all. Look at the increased subsidies that have grown, almost exponentially, and with less return. Converting Railtrack into a not-for-profit company is but a drop in the ocean of what has to be done to reclaim the nation's railway system from the mire into which it has inexorably slid. Far more drastic action is required. But I do not think, for one moment, that there is anything in this government that indicates a willingness to do anything other than skirt around the possibilities. They are scared. They are scared of spending money because this is equated with losing votes. And alternative governments, we know from experience, will likely do even less. Indeed, it was one such alternative government that dragged us down into this evil quicksand in the first place. Although I do not necessarily think that straightforward re-nationalisation, after Labour got in six years ago, would have been quite the best thing: it would have been, in my view, nearly the best. And it would have been easy to do, then, inasmuch as I feel that the public were quite ready for it: would almost have been grateful for it. When that chance was lost, I questioned why, and I knew then that the new administration was given to much talk and little conviction. It was terribly disappointing, and the situation has deteriorated still further ever since. We committee members of NDRUG go to many RPC, and other, meetings where there is much talk: oh, never a shortage of talk. But how much influence does the RPC — or anybody — really have over the SRA or the Rail Regulator? How much of this fashionable and much-vaunted stakeholder consultation trend is simply a means by which those stakeholders may be kept, very effectively, quiet?
There is to be, we were told, a Greater Western franchise. But no, only after much consultation with stakeholders, so it was said. No prejudging Nould be made. Support for that scheme was, I would say, somewhat underwhelming, judging by the RPC-organised meetings I went to but, guess what, the SRA stated subsequently that we are to have a Greater Western franchise after all. Surprised? Are these bodies just paying lip-service to notions of community involvement and stakeholder consultation? Or perhaps I am just bitter because I disagreed. It would be more honest if they just made the decision and got on with it. But, ask yourself, when was the last time the establishment — in railway matters, at least — backed-down on a big issue in the face of reasoned objections from users or other local-interest groups? Ultimately, to the needs of passengers? Well? When? We have policies foisted on us all the time, dictated pretty nearly wholly by political considerations. Whatever you think of him, Ken Livingstone is playing political Russian roulette by introducing congestion charges in London. The road lobby is immensely strong, and their philosophy is almost completely misaligned with the needs of the less fortunate — the blind, the disabled, the old, the young — all those who have no access to a motor car. But the road lobby is, too, much the stronger in voting terms, and Livingstone's action, brave as it is, makes his survival uncertain. And who do we know, in national government, who is strong enough to prornote the railway as a necessary part of a national framework of transport? Who in the Cabinet considers that the subsidy of its infrastructure and services is not a subsidy at all, but an investment? We don't hear of road subsidies, only road investment. Arguments as to the contributions of road taxes meeting all road expenditure are not impressive. The costs of supporting a road-based transport system are far greater than considerations of physical road provision alone. Pollution, road deaths, increased incidence of asthma in the young, land devastation, a reduction in the provision of necessary facilities in the countryside as a result of concentrating those facilities in town centres — all need to be accounted for. We need a drastic revision of thinking: continental examples abound, it really isn't that difficult. The problem is to do with lack of will, at all levels of political administration. It is to do with looking over your shoulder. It is to do, all too often, with mutual back-scratching. It is to do with a fear of doing what is unpopular, however just, sensible and necessary it might be. It is to do with the fear of losing power. Ever since I started work on the railway, jam has been continually held out to this industry, and then withdrawn, just before the industry's hand reached the jar. The last ten years has seen the introduction of something slightly more wicked. More jam has, indeed. been provided, but it is not reaching the railway track. Our platelayer is working for himself, and money is failing into the cess by his feet, Only when he looks again directly into the faces of those who put the dinner on his family's plates will things start to improve. Only when the waste is removed, sense restored, and one company given responsibility for everything that goes up to make a working railway — at least within any given area — will the industry drag itself out of this diabolically fragmented mess. Some politicians state that European directives forbid this: other politicians state the opposite. I have been informed at an RPC meeting, by a speaker from the European Union, employed within the transport arena, that this is not a problem: we do not need, under European law, to separate our track from our trains where we elect to have a privatised railway structure. The current system is supposed to prevent a monopoly developing over a given line. Running powers, given to one company over the tracks of another, started pretty much the day after the Liverpool and Manchester Railway was opened, right up to Nationalisation. This argument is fatuous. In any case, the true competitor to a railway operating company has been for years, and still is, not another railway operator, but the private car, the road passenger vehicle. and the aeroplane. We are protecting ourselves from the wrong enemy, and suffering in consequence. If you disagree, then please write in and persuade me. I recently heard a story, apparently true, about a driver who, many years ago, felt somewhat embarrassed about admitting that he worked for British Railways, even to the extent that he would avoid making any such admission, if he possibly could! Employed, these days, by a private train operating company (which one is not relevant) he now, by contrast, states that he feels no such embarrassment at all. He now states that he is proud to admit that he once worked for British Railways. When I left BR, admittedly unhappily, as I have stated, after thirteen and a half years' service, I wouldn't have thought, then, that I would say, now, that I feel exactly how he feels. David Gosling
Letters
As I have advocated a much later train then the 20.37 from St. David's, 20.20 from Central, and an irritating two minutes earlier on Saturdays, I was particularly interested to read Hugh Butterworth's article, A Late Train. This I regard as the single most important issue affecting the future of the Tarka Line. Always, of course, being away by 20.37, 1 did not appreciate the number of trains arriving at St. David's after our so very early evening departure. Hugh lists eight, but on perusal of the timetables I have obtained, I have found a further nine, making 17 main-liners in all plus three from Exmouth and others from Westonsuper-Mare and Taunton. Details are appended, and there may well be more. Customers from these trains will be from, Scotland and through the densely-populated North and Midlands, most from the largest towns and cities in the United Kingdom. Those from London include midafternoon arrivals at Gatwick and Heathrow: from Wales, Bristol and the deeper part of the South West Peninsular, Plymouth and Torbay. Yet there is a failure to provide any public transport to North Devon until 06.05 (06.02 Saturdays), a huge gap of many hours. In a letter to the North Devon Gazette and Advertiser, printed 21st August 2002, 1 stressed the need for a later train. I stated that most meetings, college lectures, cinemas, theatres, speedway - all finish long after 20.20. Then what about late night workers who are forced to use other means of transport? And, if you want an evening out in the Big City, we all know that the evening has hardly begun, let alone finished, at that time. The provision of a late train would relieve congestion, Pollution, drink-driving and accidents. On Saturdays the train is well-used by supporters of Argyle, Exeter and Torquay and surely increasingly by those of Yeovil next season. For evening matches, use of the train is out of the question, except for Exeter, provided you leave twenty minutes, not before the end of the match, but the beginning! Only last night (25th June 2003) 1 attended a meeting of nearly forty Exeter supporters addressed by the Chair and Committee of the Trust set up to attempt to save the club. This point was strongly raised. A later train with some form of transport to mop-up the latest arrivals is essential. The loss of potential. not only to the Tarka Line, but to the whole network can only be surmised, but must be huge. Hourly trains, if possible, yes, but a break of about ten hours at such crucial times, no, no, no! The nettle must be grasped, otherwise the ugly voice of Beeching will ring louder in my ears. Barrie Britton
These are some of the trains Barrie has identified that arrive at Exeter St Davids after the last North Devon line train has departed. These include certain indirect services, such as those
Membership Matters Welcome to new members Mr Bromley, Nottingham Mr and Mrs Sheppard, Exeter Rev Toffolo, Barnstaple
Committee Meetings 24th September - Yeoford Mare & Foal Public House at 1830
Annual General Meeting 23rd October - Barnstaple Library at 1830