growing the regional economy through better connectivity chris loder head of business projects

Growing the regional economy through better

connectivity

Chris LoderHead of Business Projects

Our Network in the Westcountry

Our network• Inter-regional hourly service on West of

England line• 3 and 6 car class 159 operation (best

performing diesel fleet in the UK)• Heavily constrained by single line

infrastructure• 4 trains a day to Waterloo/Salisbury to Bristol

Temple Meads• West of England has 2 main purposes:

– Inter-regional/local– Connecting East Devon, South Somerset,

West/North Dorset and South Wiltshire with London

• Increasingly important - diversionary resilience

Rail strategies fueling the economy• Where these are working best

– West of England Partnership (MetroWest)– Devon County Council (Devon Metro)

• Emerging– South West Peninsula Rail Task Force– Wiltshire

• Still to come– Somerset/Dorset– South Somerset/Devon– Dorset/Devon

Yeovil/South Somerset case study• Additional 7,400 dwellings and 50 hectares of

employment land in the next 12 years in Yeovil alone

• Additional 7,400 dwellings elsewhere in South Somerset with 100 hectares of employment land

• Main A roads - almost all will have significant upgrade work in the coming years

• A303 widening/tunnelling will be a major disruption but also a major opportunity for the railways

• No rail connection between the 2 lines despite infrastructure being available

• Local traffic congestion is considerable

Connections that should be easier• Yeovil to Taunton (A358)• Crewkerne to Yeovil Pen Mill (A30)• Crewkerne to Castle Cary (A303)• Weymouth/Dorchester to Axminster/Exeter

(A35)• Gillingham to Dorchester (A354)• Sherborne to Dorchester/Weymouth

(A37/A352)

Our December 2015 proposal

West of England Connectivity proposal for December 2015• Half-hourly service to Yeovil between 12:20 &

19:20 (except for 14:50)• 3 additional trains from Yeovil to London• Connecting Yeovil Junction and Yeovil Pen Mill

17 times a day• 2 direct trains per day in each direction Bruton

and Frome to London• Direct service from Yeovil Pen Mill to Exeter• 2 trains per hour to Cranbrook and Honiton in

the Exeter evening peak (16:00-18:00)• Offering a number of new journey

opportunities in the area

Questions