Category: General

New waiting shelters have recently been installed at Exeter St Thomas (above) and Torre stations as part of Citizens’ Rail’s work to enhance The Riviera Line in Devon.

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The shelters mark a big improvement at both stations. They offer passengers better facilities and an improved sense of personal safety compared with having to wait in the old, dark and window-less ones that have now been demolished.

Exeter St Thomas

The Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership, Torbay Council and First Great Western visit the Torre shelter as it nears completion.

Our latest partner meeting took place in Aachen (Germany) last week, and included several interesting site visits.

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We began with a trip to Alsdorf Annapark station to see its innovative level crossing and roundabout. Located in a former coal mining district, the project has won an architectural award.

We then took the train to the newly created St.Joris station nearby:

Next up we travelled by coach to visit a Euregiobahn construction site deep in the woods. The site poses challenges, as the new track has to pass through a nature reserve and go under another railway line:

We spent the afternoon at Stolberg station, the headquarters of EVS, the private local rail infrastructure company for the Euregiobahn network. As well as receiving an informative presentation and behind-the-scenes tour from EVS, we held sessions to update partners on the latest progress in the Citizens’ Rail project, including the successful visit of Lancashire school children to Aachen and Parkstad Limburg, and a workshop to continue the development of our Practitioner Toolkit.

The following day we visited Eilendorf station, where Citizens’ Rail partners are planning major improvements working alongside the local community:

We’re grateful to UITP (The International Association of Public Transport) for featuring a pair of Citizens’ Rail articles in their latest Regional and Suburban Rail newsletter.

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The collaboration follows the fruitful joint meeting last month between Citizens’ Rail and UITP’s Regional and Suburban Railways committee. The first of the featured stories is an abridged version of our ‘Invisible Stations‘ article, detailing how we are helping to improve hidden and anonymous-looking stations in the UK, France and Germany. The second shines a light on the excellent work of volunteers at Dawlish (Devon, UK) to help revive their station following last winter’s horrendous storms.

[button size=”small” color=”#ffffff” background=”#d42053″ radius=”0px” type=”flat” link=”http://www.flexmail.eu/r-d35e2b3508d1fddb41730bf4aadbda524d5d48f4335bbaa4″ newwindow=”false” icon=”” ]Read the UITP newsletter[/button]

One of our German partners, Stadt Aachen, has shared a fantastic concept – children’s birthday parties held at Cologne station to give youngsters a “behind-the-scenes” tour of one of the country’s busiest stations.

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The parties last for three hours and include child-friendly talks by railway staff, the chance to visit the cab of a train and to receive a tour of off-limits parts of the station – as well as the obligatory birthday cake of course!

For the railway, an important aspect of the parties is the opportunity to not only inspire children about travelling by train, but also to educate them about railway safety.

[icon size=”14px” color=”#D42053″ background=”#ffffff” radius=”0px” type=”icon-chevron-sign-right” spacing=”0px” /] Find out more on Verkehrsclubs Deutschland’s website, www.BahnRadWeg.de (German language).

Thanks to everyone who attended the Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership local conference in Plymouth this week. It was fantastic to hear such thought-provoking and informative presentations, and to receive such well-considered feedback about the Citizens’ Rail “how to” guide.

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You can access the presentation slides from the day at the links below (in PDF format, all less than 3.5MB):

Community Rail development, 10 years on: What have we learned and what is next?
Chris Austin, Chair of the Avocet Line Forum and former Executive Director of the Strategic Rail Authority

Making the case for the peninsula and for Devon
Bruce Thompson, Head of Transport Co-ordination Service, Devon County Council

Community stations – food for thought
Paul Salveson, University of Huddersfield

Why Community Rail is good business for Train Operating Companies
Dan Okey, First Great Western

The Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership in 2014/2015
Richard Burningham, Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership

The Citizens’ Rail “how to” guide
Mike Parker-Bray, Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership

Line development – the Tarka experience
John Phillips, Tarka Rail Association

The place of aspiration in Community Rail development
Members of the Avocet Line Rail Users Group

Working with Train Operating Companies to engage the community
Celia Minoughan, Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership

Marketing the railway in Devon and Cornwall
Rebecca Catterall, Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership

Return to Tavistock: project update
Lewis Ward, Devon County Council

To keep up-to-date with the Citizens’ Rail project and on progress with the “how to” guide, sign up for our bite-size quarterly newsletter below. We’ll never pass on your details and you can unsubscribe with a single click, any time.

Photo by Alan Coates under a Creative Commons license.

C’est reparti pour le Train des Plages! Quand le TER vous emmène à la mer…

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Après le succès du Train des plages en 2013 entre Saumur, La Roche-sur-Yon et Les Sables d’Olonne, la Région des Pays de la Loire, en partenariat avec la Région Poitou-Charentes, renouvelle l’opération cette année à partir du 1er mai en l’allongeant de 3 mois! Elle lance aussi un 2ème Train des plages (qui ne fait pas parti du projet Citizens’ Rail) au départ du Mans vers le Croisic à partir du 6 juillet.

Le Train des plages entre Saumur et les Sables d’Olonne, cette année, c’est du 1er mai au 28 septembre 2014!

Mis en place l’été dernier à titre expérimental entre Saumur, La Roche-sur-Yon et Les Sables-d’Olonne, le Train des plages a connu un succès retentissant avec plus de 5 300 voyages. Cette ligne longue de 154 km traverse la Vendée et le nord Deux-Sèvres pour rejoindre le Saumurois. Avec une fréquentation moyenne de 171 personnes par train, et un maximum de 359 personnes dans le train le plus fréquenté, le matériel a dû être changé en cours d’opération au profit de trains de capacité plus importante (220 places). Toutes les gares et haltes de la ligne ont connu des fréquentations très significatives : la majorité des montées ont eu lieu en gares de Saumur, Thouars et Bressuire. Des haltes comme Cerizay ont été fréquentées comme elles ne l’avaient jamais été depuis de nombreuses années.

L’opération est donc reconduite cette année pour une durée plus longue, du 1er mai au 28 septembre (l’année dernière, elle avait lieu du 7 juillet au 25 août), avec une nouveauté : un nouvel arrêt à Montreuil-Bellay.

En dehors des billets pratiK, tivA, ou fiftI qui permettent de voyager à 4 les week-ends et jours fériés avec 50% de réduction, la Région propose, de mai à septembre et durant les petites vacances scolaires, le forfait tribU pour se déplacer, de 1 à 5 personnes, pendant 2 jours consécutifs au prix de 45 €.

En 2013, en collaboration avec la Région Poitou-Charentes, la Région Pays de la Loire a lancé une importante étude de redynamisation de la ligne interrégionale La Roche-sur-Yon – Bressuire – Saumur associant largement collectivités et partenaires locaux dans le cadre du projet européen Citizens’ Rail. Le but de ce projet européen est de revitaliser des gares ou lignes rurales peu fréquentées par des actions qui bénéficient alors d’un financement européen à 50%. Le budget inscrit au projet Citizens Rail pour le développement des dessertes sur cette ligne est de 900 000 € (dont 50% d’aide européenne) répartis sur les années 2013, 2014 et 2015 sur un budget total de près d’1,5 M€.

Bientôt un autre train des plages depuis Le Mans…

Après l’important succès du train des plages Saumur – Les Sables d’Olonne l’été 2013, pour répondre au fort besoin de déplacements existant depuis le bassin du Mans vers Nantes et vers la mer en été, la Région des Pays de la Loire a décidé de créer un aller-retour direct entre Le Mans et Le Croisic chaque samedi, dimanche et fêtes estivaux entre le dimanche 6 juillet et le dimanche 24 août 2014 desservant toutes les gares et haltes entre Saint-Nazaire et Le Croisic.

Cet aller-retour offrira ainsi des possibilités inédites pour passer une journée ou un week-end à la mer dans les nombreuses villes balnéaires de la côte d’Amour : à Saint-Nazaire, Pornichet, La Baule Les Pins et La Baule Escoublac, Le Pouliguen, Batz-sur-Mer et Le Croisic. Par correspondance à Nantes, les usagers pourront également accéder à Pornic, Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie, Saint-Jean-de-Monts, La Barre-de-Monts Fromentine (correspondance bateau pour l’Ile d’Yeu), Noirmoutier et Les Sables d’Olonne. Les usagers de cet aller-retour auront en effet la possibilité de se rendre aux Sables d’Olonne par correspondance à Nantes avec le train Nantes (9h46) – Les Sables d’Olonne (11h09) créé les samedis en été (existant déjà le dimanche).

[icon size=”14px” color=”#D42053″ background=”#ffffff” radius=”0px” type=”icon-chevron-sign-right” spacing=”0px” /] Visitez le site web Train des plages.

[icon size=”14px” color=”#D42053″ background=”#ffffff” radius=”0px” type=”icon-chevron-sign-right” spacing=”0px” /] En savoir plus sur le project Citizens’ Rail en Pays de la Loire.

Heading to Toby Buckland’s Garden Festival at Powderham Castle?
It’s easy to get there by train:

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Pocket timetables

Starcross is the nearest station to the Festival, and you can get their direct from Exeter, Dawlish, Paignton or Torquay. Here are some handy pocket timetables specifically for the Festival weekend:

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[icon size=”14px” color=”#d42053″ background=”#ffffff” radius=”0px” type=”icon-circle-arrow-right” spacing=”0px” /] Or create your own timetable from wherever else you’re starting your journey.

Then take the 3-minute bus ride

From Starcross station, cross the road to the bus stop just to your left. Take a Stagecoach bus 2 or B, which leave at 03, 18, 23, 43 and 48 minutes past the hour, and get off at Powderham Castle.

Alternatively, it is a 30 minute walk to the Castle, turning right out of the railway station (keeping the river on your right) and staying on this road (the A379).

We’re recruiting a Project Officer to develop the Riviera Line (Exeter to Paignton) as part of Citizens’ Rail. The role will involve marketing, promotional activities, encouraging volunteers, community involvement and establishing a new community forum for the line.

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Read on for the full advertisement, job description and how to apply. We look forward to hearing from you.

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Job title: Project Officer – Citizens’ Rail
Job reference: A3554
Application closing date: 01/12/2013
Location: Plymouth
Salary: £23352 to £27047 pa-Grade 5
Contract type: Full-time, Fixed-term

The award-winning Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership is based in the University’s School of Geography, Earth & Environmental Science. It is a non-profit partnership between local councils, Plymouth University and the rail industry which has been working to promote travel on rural railways in the two counties since 1991.

The Partnership, together with partners in Lancashire, France, Germany and the Netherlands, has been successful in achieving INTERREG IVB funding for the “Citizens’ Rail” project.

As well as looking to develop and improve rail services and facilities, the Citizens’ Rail partners will be working together to better engage communities with their local railway, including the planning of new and improved facilities, and breathing new life into rundown or disused stations.

We believe this to be the first project to focus on “slow” rail, rather than high speed rail. It will run until September 2015.

You will be the Project Officer responsible for delivering the large local element of the project which looks to develop the Exeter – Paignton line through a series of actions including marketing, promotional and public relations activities, encouraging volunteers, community involvement and establishing a new community forum for the line. You would also organise benchmarking and survey work.

You will work closely with the partners to draw up and then, once agreed, implement the action plan for the Paignton line to deliver the outcomes envisaged in the project application form. Your work will complement the activities of local partners, including First Great Western, Network Rail, Torbay Council and Devon County Council and you will work closely with them on this project.

This post will involve a number of visits (including to European partners) which will mean stays of several days’ duration. The post will also involve some weekend and evening work as required.

Contact for informal discussion: Richard Burningham, Manager, Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership. rburningham@plymouth.ac.uk 01752 584777

This is a full-time position working 37 hours per week on a fixed-term basis until September 2015.

Interviews are likely be held on Monday 16 December 2013

Plymouth University is committed to an inclusive culture and respecting diversity, and welcomes applications from all sections of the community.

The University holds a Bronze Athena SWAN Award which recognises commitment to advancing women’s career in STEMM academia.

Read the job description (PDF)

Apply on the Plymouth University website