Citizens' Rail

Tag: station improvements

  • Dawlish station gets green revamp thanks to local volunteers and TV gardening expert

    Dawlish station gets green revamp thanks to local volunteers and TV gardening expert

    Dawlish station has received a green makeover prior to its re-opening thanks to TV gardener Toby Buckland and the Friends of Dawlish Station.

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    Mr Buckland said: “As a Dawlish man born and bred I was horrified by the damage to the station but it wasn’t until I saw it for myself and spoke to the station manager that I realised that I could do something to help.

    “It’s been great to be part of helping the station to bounce back greener than ever.”

    Eight volunteers from the group planted cordylines, lavenders, pansies, violets, primroses and other species in 10 new planters installed on the platforms. The gardening day was organised as part of Citizens’ Rail, an EU project led by the Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership which aims to get more people involved at stations on the Riviera Line between Exeter and Torbay.

    The plants were donated by Dawlish-based horticulturalist Mr Buckland from his nursery and plant centre at nearby Powderham Castle, which on 2nd and 3rd May hosts a major new garden festival with award-winning horticultural exhibitors, live music, food stalls and family entertainment. Staff from Network Rail’s “orange army” also helped with the planting day – shifting heavy bags of compost.

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    Val Mawhood of The Friends of Dawlish Station said: “It’s so good to see our station being brought back to life with new flower-filled planters in place. We are looking forward to a bright and cheerful year ahead and consigning last winter to history.”

    First Great Western Dawlish Station Manager Ian Mundy said: “We are committed to supporting the communities we serve. This project shows how much can be achieved when the railway, volunteers and local businesses work together to improve the station environment for all. It’s a fantastic way to welcome passengers back to the railway.”

    More information about the garden festival – including how to get there by train via Starcross station – can be found at www.tobygardenfest.co.uk or by calling 01626 891133.

    Want to get involved?

    The Friends of Dawlish Station are keen to recruit new members. More information is available from Celia Minoughan, Citizens’ Rail Riviera Line Officer at the Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership, on 01752 584777, at celia@citizensrail.org or on our Devon page.

    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.

    Photos courtesy of First Great Western.


  • Passenger surveys on the Riviera Line

    Passenger surveys on the Riviera Line

    If you’re travelling on the Riviera Line in Torbay this week (18-22 November 2013), look out for the passenger survey being circulated by our friendly team – your chance to help us prioritise improvements for the future.

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    The survey (available here as a PDF) gives passengers the chance to tell Citizens’ Rail about their journey and to give us your views about the stations and services on the Riviera Line (Exeter to Paignton).

    It will be followed next week with a passenger count to establish baseline statistics for how many people are currently using the line, before the improved services begin on 9th December.

    [icon size=”14px” color=”#d42053″ background=”#ffffff” radius=”0px” type=”icon-circle-arrow-right” spacing=”0px” /] Find out more about our Devon project.

  • Eilendorf community event gets residents involved

    Eilendorf community event gets residents involved

    As part of Citizens’ Rail, approximately 50 local residents in Eilendorf (in Aachen, Germany) attended a community engagement event in October to have their say on potential improvements to their local station.

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    Eilendorf station has considerable access issues – if passengers want to get from one side of the track to the other, this currently involves a long walk to the nearest bridge in one direction or tunnel in the other. Representatives from Citizens’ Rail’s German partners (Stadt Aachen, AVV and RWTH Aachen University) gave presentations setting out four options for improvements to the station (see visualisations below).


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    The presentations are available (in German) in the Dokumente section of Stadt Aachen’s Eilendorf station page. Residents then had the chance to ask questions and give their own views on each of the four options.

    The main reaction from the community was that they welcomed the chance to get involved in planning the improved station at this early stage. Personal safety at the station emerged as a high priority. The options with the best visibility (the first and second slides above) were residents’ favoured options as a result.

    [icon size=”14px” color=”#d42053″ background=”#ffffff” radius=”0px” type=”icon-circle-arrow-right” spacing=”0px” /] Visit our Eilendorf page to find out more about the project and next steps for improving the station.


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  • Transnational masterclass

    Transnational masterclass

    Students from all four of the Citizens’ Rail partner countries came together in Heerlen in the Netherlands and Aachen in Germany for a two-day masterclass to learn, collaborate and generate radical new visions for local stations.

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    The masterclass on Monday 7th and Tuesday 8th October 2013 included site visits to stations including Nuth, Aachen Eilendorf and Aachen West. The 48 students (from Plymouth University, the University of Central Lancashire, L’Ecole de Design Nantes Atlantique, Hogeschool Zuyd and RWTH Aachen University) came from a range of disciplines including geography, tourism, design and civil engineering. They formed four international multi-disciplinary teams to create impressive visions for improvements to Nuth and Eilendorf stations (PDFs):

    [box close=”false” color=”#36A9E1″ icon=”” ]Eilendorf
    Blue team[/box]
    [box close=”false” color=”#93c01f” icon=”” ]Eilendorf
    Green team[/box]
    [box close=”false” color=”#d42053″ icon=”” ]Nuth
    Red team[/box]
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    Yellow team[/box]

    The students also benefited from thought-provoking presentations from Prof Martina Fromhold-Eisebith (RWTH Aachen University), UK-based community rail champion Paul Salveson and artist Michel Huisman, the man behind the spectacular “Maankwartier” redevelopment of the nearby Heerlen station.

    The masterclass was organised by Citizens’ Rail partners RWTH Aachen University, the City of Aachen, Aachen Transport Authority (AVV) and Parkstad Limburg.