Category: Devon

Unsere größten Erfolge

Nach drei fantastischen Jahren wird Citizens’ Rail Ende diesen Monats abgeschlossen. Was haben wir erreicht? Das können Sie in unserem unten folgenden interaktiven Poster herausfinden.

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Noch einmal vielen Dank an alle, die zu einem so inspirierenden und positiven Projekt beigetragen haben. Citizens’ Rail wird durch unser Toolkit und in unserem Online-Netzwerk weiterleben – wir freuen uns, wenn Sie mitmachen, um gemeinsam unseren lokalen und regionalen Bahnverkehr weiterzuentwickeln.

2015/12/17
Citizens’ Rail bei den nationalen Community Rail Awards ausgezeichnet

Citizens’ Rail war dreifacher Gewinner bei den nationalen Community Rail Awards in Großbritannien, die letzte Woche in Torquay veranstaltet wurden.

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Vor einem Publikum mit mehr als 330 Mitarbeitern und Freiwilligen aus dem Bahnsektor wurde das Citizens’ Rail Projekt insgesamt in der Kategorie Outstanding Teamwork prämiert. Unsere britischen, französischen, holländischen und deutschen Partner erreichten den dritten Platz dank ihres Engagements für länderübergreifende Zusammenarbeit und ihrer ideenreichen Gemeinschaftsprojekte, die über den ursprünglichen Rahmen des Projekts hinausgingen. Dazu gehörten die unvergessliche Reise für Schulkinder aus Lancashire, die die Aachener Domsingschule in Deutschland besuchten, Masterclasses für Studenten, damit Ideen von jungen Leuten von der Bahnindustrie umgesetzt wurden, und sogar die Spende mit holländischen Tulpen, um die Bahnhofsgrünanlagen in Devon zu verschönern.

Zwei einzelne Projekte von Citizens’ Rail wurden bei der Preisverleihung ebenfalls ausgezeichnet:

Der familienfreundliche Minibeast Trail der Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership auf der Riviera Line zwischen Exeter und Torbay erreichte den dritten Platz in der Kategorie Small Community Art Schemes (Kunstprojekte in kleinen Gemeinden). In Zusammenarbeit mit der Künstlerin Melissa Muldoon gestalteten Schulkinder von der Gatehouse Primary School in Dawlish und Mitglieder des Sure Start Dad’s Club Stay and Play in Teignmouth Skulpturen mit Schmetterlingen, Libellen, Bienen, Marienkäfern und Schnecken aus recyceltem Kunststoff. Sie wurden auf Pflanzgefäßen an den Bahnhöfen Teignmouth, Dawlish, Newton Abbot, Torquay und Paignton präsentiert.

Das Projekt „Distance between“ von unseren Partnern in Lancashire und Aachen gewann ebenfalls den dritten Preis in der Kategorie Involving Young People (Junge Menschen einbeziehen). Eine Grundschulklasse aus einer ehemaligen Mühlenstadt in Lancashire wurde gefragt, ob sie sich im Rahmen von Citizens’ Rail bei der Eröffnung des Bahnhofs Burnley Manchester Road engagieren möchte. Das haben sie auf großartige Weise gemacht. Als Belohnung nahm die Klasse an einer Kulturaustausch-Fahrt teil, die sie nach Aachen und Heerlen führte. Viele der Kinder waren noch nie zuvor aus Lancashire herausgekommen. Sie verbrachten die Zeit gemeinsam mit Kindern einer deutschen Schulklasse und kreierten Kunstwerke, die jetzt an Bahnhöfen in Lancashire, Aachen und Heerlen ausgestellt werden.

Die Community Rail Awards sind eine jährlich stattfindende Veranstaltung, die von der Association of Community Rail Partnerships organisiert wird. Die Auszeichnungen würdigen die Arbeit zur Förderung und zum Ausbau der lokalen und ländlichen Bahnstrecken in Großbritannien. Die Preisverleihung fand nach der Abschlusskonferenz von Citizens’ Rail statt, die schon früher am gleichen Tag durchgeführt wurde – mehr erfahren.

2015/11/09
Final conference – a big success
The Citizens’ Rail final conference held in Torquay last week was a big success. We would like to thank all our speakers and attendees for making it such an informative and engaging day.

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The 70 delegates from the UK, France, Germany and the Netherlands met the night before the conference for a special pre-conference networking event kindly funded by local rail operator Great Western Railway (GWR). The attendees took a trip from Torquay to Kingswear, taking advantage of a beautiful warm evening. This is normally a heritage railway route, but thanks to GWR and the Dartmouth Steam Railway and River Boat Company, guests were instead able to travel on the pair of Class 153 units decked out in Citizens’ Rail and Visit South Devon liveries.

Photo courtesy of Antony Christie

Upon arrival, the delegates were welcomed by staff from sustainable local restaurant group Rockfish with a fish and chip dinner. The evening provided the perfect way for people to make new connections and get to know each other – especially important given that the group spanned four countries and a wide range of organisations – including rail operators, rail infrastructure bodies, Community Rail Partnerships and local, regional and national government.

The conference itself – held at the Riviera International Centre – featured a range of great speakers from the UK, France, Germany and the Netherlands. Each presentation spurred a lively question and answer session, and the afternoon featured group workshop sessions to make the day as interactive as possible. Explore the presentation slides below and see the full agenda at the foot of this post, or as a PDF.

Keith Walton (Severnside Community Rail Partnership) asks Erwan Terrillon (Conseil régional des Pays de la Loire) about the Train Des Plages project

Michel Huisman of the Maankwartier project in the Netherlands delivered a thought-provoking tour-de-force

Continuing the discussions on the balcony

Mark Hopwood, Managing Director of Great Western Railway, addresses the conference

Slides from the main presentations:

Workshops:
We wanted to share the great points made in the interactive workshop sessions at the conference, so we’ve posted a forum thread for each workshop in our new online network the Community Rail Cafe. This allows participants to post their ideas or notes from the sessions. Even if you weren’t there on the day, we’d invite further ideas too – all are welcome. The aim is to create a lasting set of top tips for each topic that people can draw upon and build up over time.

Read/contribute to each topic:
The conference agenda:

Following the conference, the UK’s national Community Rail Awards were held in the same venue that evening, with Citizens’ Rail projects recognised in three categories – read more.
2015/10/05
Conference and rail awards ceremony to draw hundreds to Torquay

One of the UK’s leading rail industry awards evenings will be held in Torquay this week, boosting the town’s hospitality sector with the arrival of more than 300 rail professionals and volunteers.

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The annual Community Rail Awards will be held at the Riviera International Centre on Thursday 1st October. It will celebrate projects from across the country that involve local communities in their railways. It was last held in the South West in 2008, when it was hosted in Plymouth, home to the Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership. The Partnership works to promote the branch lines of the two counties, and several of its projects have been shortlisted for this year’s awards. These include its family-oriented Minibeast Trail on the Riviera Line (Exeter-Paignton) and its revamped Great Scenic Railways website.

The awards are organised by the Association of Community Rail Partnerships, and will be hosted by Mark Hopwood, Managing Director of train operator Great Western Railway. The evening ceremony will be preceded by a one-day European rail conference, also held in the Riviera International Centre, to celebrate the completion of the EU Citizens’ Rail project, led by the Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership.

Launched in 2012, the project has worked in the UK, France, Germany and the Netherlands to develop local and regional railways by involving the community. On the Riviera Line, the project has part-funded improvements at stations along the line, additional trains between Newton Abbot and Paignton, marketing campaigns, and community engagement work with volunteers, local residents and schools. This has led to a 15% increase in passengers, despite the huge disruption caused by last year’s closure of the line at Dawlish.

Richard Burningham, manager of the Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership, said:

“The local part of our EU Citizens’ Rail project has been all about improving Torbay’s railway, with more trains and better stations, particularly Torre. We are delighted to be holding our final conference for the project in Torquay and for Torquay to be hosting the prestigious National Community Rail Awards, all of which will boost Torbay’s local economy.”

Local partners in Citizens’ Rail – which is 50% funded by the EU’s Interreg IVB NWE programme – include Devon County Council, Torbay Council, First Great Western, Plymouth University and the Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership.

Photo courtesy of the English Riviera Tourism Company

2015/09/30
Students’ innovative Wi-Fi idea becomes a reality

A ground-breaking idea conceived at our recent Citizens’ Rail student masterclass has been implemented by the UK rail industry within just three months.

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The two-day workshop, hosted in Preston (UK) by the University of Central Lancashire in March 2015, brought together students from German, Dutch and UK universities to develop fresh ideas for how to promote local and regional railways.

Citizens’ Rail partners chose marketing as the focus for the masterclass because marketing campaigns are often simpler and quicker to implement than other rail projects. Students were therefore motivated by the knowledge that their proposals could soon be put into practice.

The Wi-Fi idea
The first idea to be realised came from the transnational group of students that was developing marketing campaigns targeted at tourists and leisure travellers.

The students saw an opportunity to promote leisure trips on local and regional lines using the Wi-Fi connection screens on mainline trains.

Implementing the concept
The idea was swiftly pursued by Citizens’ Rail’s lead partner, the Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership.

Alongside its work within the European project, the Partnership was in the middle of planning a separate campaign to promote Cornwall’s scenic branch lines and destinations. The campaign harnessed the popularity of the BBC series Poldark. In spring 2015 the hit British television programme had prominently featured Cornwall’s beautiful coast, countryside and mining heritage. The Partnership therefore developed a theme of “Visit Poldark country by train”.

As well as a flagship event at London Paddington, leaflets and other materials, the Partnership created a mini-website showing how to visit filming locations from the programme by train.

Thanks to the masterclass, train operator First Great Western agreed to promote the campaign on the onboard Wi-Fi of their fleet of High Speed Trains. Now, when users connect to Wi-Fi aboard the train, they are greeted with the “Visit Poldark country by train” message.

When they click “Continue”, they are taken to the First Great Western homepage, which prominently features a link to the Partnership’s campaign website. The Wi-Fi promotion will continue to run until the later in the summer, helping to promote First Great Western’s branch lines to users of other parts of its network.

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The results
The campaign has already led to a 40% increase in the Partnership’s web traffic compared to the same period the previous year – attracting 10,000 visitors in just five weeks. The Partnership has also put the project forward for a national Community Rail Award (winners to be announced in October 2015).

The project shows the power of involving young people in their railway, and the difference that their fresh perspectives and innovative ideas can bring.

Participating universities
Citizens’ Rail would like to thank all the students and universities that took part. The event, which was the follow-up to our first masterclass in Aachen and Parkstad Limburg in 2013, was a great example of the transnational working that is at the heart of the EU Interreg IVB NWE programme, through which Citizens’ Rail is funded.

University of Central Lancashire
Plymouth University
RWTH Aachen University
Zuyd Hogeschool

Read more about the masterclass and see the students’ PowerPoint presentations.

2015/06/26
Collaborating with businesses on The Riviera Line

The Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership (our lead partner) carried out a face-to-face campaign in Torquay and Paignton this week, engaging more than 100 businesses.

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From bookshops to cafes, model shops to theatres, the Partnership’s Riviera Line Officer visited a wide range of consumer businesses. The aim was to recruit the companies to help spread the word about travelling to Torbay by train – boosting the railway and bringing more customers at the same time.

The response was extremely positive, with retailers happy to stock leaflets and to display awareness-raising “Get here on the Riviera Line” stickers in their shop windows.

2015/06/18
Another Riviera Line station set to go green

Following the community-led green revamps of Torquay, Dawlish and Teignmouth stations, Torre is set to be next on the Riviera Line to be brightened up.

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The gardening team from Robert Owen Communities’ Railway Project, who have already worked wonders at Torquay station, have been making preparations to transform the station border on the upside platform using herbs and other shrubs with a sensory appeal. The work is being supported by funding from Citizens’ Rail and will complement the station’s new shelter.

As Robert Owen Communities (ROC) celebrates its 25th anniversary, the Railway Project is a key part of its Work2Work initiative, in which the person with the learning disability is thoroughly prepared for the world of work.

Chris, one of the people supported by the project, said: “I do a paid cleaning job three times each week at ROC Aspects. I like set tasks and can work independently. I love the Railway Project and am really looking forward to working at Torre.”

ROC’s Jessica Allan said: “The Railway Project is a great place for the people we support to make new friends, learn about gardening and work and stay fit in a safe and fun environment. This new project excites us because we can help bring about the same transformation as we have at Torquay station.”

Celia Minoughan, Citizens’ Rail Riviera Line Officer, added: “I am delighted that the ROC Railway Adoption project has made such a great start to the transformation of the garden at Torre Station. ROC has exciting plans for brightening up the platform border.”

Ian Mundy, station manager for First Great Western said: “Working in partnership with ROC and DCRP is proving to be a most worthwhile project. Not only does it provide valuable life and work skills for the people ROC supports, it’s transforming a previously unloved station into a welcoming and bright location for our customers.”

In other developments, there are also green plans for Exeter St Thomas station – more news soon!

2015/06/04
Presentation to UK Rail Minister

Citizens’ Rail was in the spotlight this week at a Community Rail Marketplace event at the UK’s Department for Transport.

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Richard Burningham, manager of our lead partner the Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership, delivered a presentation about the Citizens’ Rail project to an audience including high level Department for Transport officials and national and local representatives from the community rail sector.

The Rail Partnership also had a stall at the event, promoting Citizens’ Rail and other projects, which was visited by Rail Minister Claire Perry and Clare Moriarty, Department for Transport Rail Director General.

The Marketplace brought together Community Rail Partnerships from across the country as part of the Department for Transport’s Learning at Work Week. The Marketplace was organised by Kul Bassi, Community Rail Team Leader at the Department for Transport and aimed to raise awareness of the Community Rail world among civil servants.

2015/05/21
Booklet to promote the Riviera Line

A new booklet has been produced as part of the Citizens’ Rail marketing campaign to promote travel on the Riviera Line between Exeter and Paignton.

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The free booklet has been produced by the Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership and brings together ideas for great days out in Exeter, Dawlish, Teignmouth, Newton Abbot and along the English Riviera. Walks from stations are also featured including the Exe Estuary Trail and Agatha Christie Mile in Torquay. The booklet also promotes South Devon events along the Riviera Line in 2015 including the Dawlish Arts Festival, Dawlish Air Show, Carnivals at Teignmouth and Paignton and the Dartmouth Steam Railway’s Beer Festival.

105,000 copies of the booklet have been produced. Copies are now available at tourist information centres and in libraries throughout South Devon. Rail company First Great Western are helping by distributing them via stations across their network, including London Paddington and Bristol Temple Meads as well as local Devon stations.

Celia Minoughan, the Partnership’s Riviera Line Project Officer said “The booklet is a great companion for people to explore South Devon and gives inspiration for the attractions and activities which can be reached on a Riviera Line scenic train journey.”

Ian Mundy, First Great Western’s Station Manager said: “Taking the train along such an iconic stretch of railway is the ideal way to explore the many hidden gems in the area and this booklet is a great guide for both locals and visitors to the area.”

Local partners in Citizens’ Rail – which is 50% funded by the EU’s Interreg IVB programme – include Devon County Council, Torbay Council, First Great Western, Plymouth University and the Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership.

Download the free booklet (PDF).

2015/05/21
Rail volunteers are local TV stars again

On the first anniversary of the devastating storms that left the Riviera Line in tatters, the Friends of Dawlish Station have again been featured on BBC’s Spotlight news thanks to their contribution to the station’s revival.

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The volunteer group, which had previously been dormant, was itself rejuvenated as part of the Citizens’ Rail project. New members were recruited through a media campaign and local networking by the Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership. The Friends then helped to give their station a green makeover working alongside broadcaster and horticulturalist Toby Buckland, right in time for the line’s grand re-opening on 4th April 2014. Read more about the Dawlish story.

The BBC Spotlight regional news programme visited Dawlish to broadcast live from the station on the storm’s anniversary, and interviewed the Friends group – pictured below with colleagues from Network Rail:

To find out more about the group or to get involved, contact Citizens’ Rail’s Riviera Line Officer, Celia Minoughan, on 01752 584777 or at celia@citizensrail.org.

2015/02/06