A dedicated Riviera Line officer has been appointed as part of Citizens’ Rail to help the recovery of the storm-struck route between Exeter, Dawlish and Paignton.
Over the next eighteen months Celia Minoughan, from Totnes, will be working with local groups to encourage more people to try the train, and to get residents involved in their stations.
Citizens’ Rail’s work in the local area – which was hit by major storm damage in February – will also include a major marketing campaign for the line, and improvements to facilities at several stations. The project also helped to provide the more frequent Newton Abbot to Paignton service launched in December that will resume once the damaged Dawlish station re-opens.
Celia – pictured above with First Great Western station manager Ian Mundy – said: “From my first day in the job it’s been fantastic to see people’s determination to bounce back from the recent disruption. Our aim is for the line to come back stronger than ever, and we’ll soon be announcing the date of our first community forum for the line, where people can have their say on how they’d like to see their train services develop.”
If you have ideas for improvements at local stations, or would be interested in volunteering, visit our Devon page, contact Celia on 01752 584777 or email celia@citizensrail.org.
Local partners in the Citizens’ Rail project – 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 and Cornwall Rail Partnership.
What improvements do you think are needed on stations between Exeter and Paignton? Let us know in the comments.
