Representatives from local authorities and businesses in Devon and Cornwall are due to give evidence to the Commons Transport committee on Tuesday 25 February as part of the Inquiry into TRANSPORT’S WINTER RESILIENCE: RAIL FLOODING.

They must insist on:

1. Urgent reopening and long term protection of the Dawlish part of the line, both from the sea and landslips from above

2. Urgent action to prevent a re-occurrence of the flooding of the River Exe North of Exeter

3. Dredging of the Somerset levels to reduce the risk of rail flooding there.

The above problems are now regular; many happened last winter as well.   All can and must be dealt with, but the sea defences at Dawlish is the only one that will always be at risk.

So, in addition to undertaking the above works to keep the lines open, an inland route to avoid Dawlish and provide a resilient route must be developed quickly.  Most experts believe that the former Southern Railway line through Okehampton (the North Dartmoor line) is the best option and, by connecting the current tracks between there through Tavistock to Bere Alston, such a route is achieved.

This would provide rail access from these towns to both Plymouth and Exeter, as well as a resilient diversion route for main line services when Dawlish is closed.

However, with a little more vision, in addition to the above, Cornwall could be connected to London and the Midlands by a faster route to save around 40 minutes on the journey time, by rebuilding the straighter parts of the former SR Route to 90mph standards and then constructing two cut-offs for Cornwall – London/Midlands trains to avoid the long detours to Plymouth and Exeter.

–          A link from Rewe, south of Tiverton Parkway to Sweetham on the Barnstable branch could be easily built to save reversing at Exeter.

–          A route from Bodmin Parkway past Bodmin and then following the route of the A30 via Launceston to near Okehampton would for most of the route enable high speeds to be achieved, and would of course avoid the Dartmoor National Park. A new connection from this route to Bere Alston would provide a faster route to Plymouth.

The attached paper by JRC Consulting gives all the details and route options.   These inland routes generally avoid the deep valleys further south that would need many tunnels and viaducts.

JRC concludes ‘Most of Cornwall, including North Cornwall, is better off by about 40 minutes with a new/improved North Dartmoor route. West Devon will also be reached proportionately faster. Plymouth has comparable time improvements by both routes, and can be up to 11 minutes faster than now if there were a direct route from North Dartmoor.’

rc140213 JR final Investment in resilience and economic development – West Country rail networkTony Berkeley concludes:  ‘I believe that a combination of a resilient inland route to the South West for when Dawlish is closed, combined with a 40 minute time saving from many parts of Cornwall  would provide the economic benefit that the region deserves after its economy losing £20m per day with the current – and last year’s – line closures.’

‘I urge them to make these points strongly to the Committee’

Tony Berkeley