1. Après le déluge Christopher Irwin, Director, TravelWatch SouthWest CIC
TravelWatch SouthWest General Meeting
Taunton, 8th October 2016

2. After Brexit….

3. The French connection

4. A tale of two cities Rennes 363 km from capital 210 k inhabitants
2nd fastest growing in France
30 tpd,
TGVs to Strasbourg, Lille, Lyon, Marseilles
>2 hr 4 min journey to Paris (1 hr 30 min from 2017)
Plymouth
365 km from capital
260 k inhabitants
2nd largest after Bristol
27 tpd,
Voyagers to BHM, LDS, NCL, EDI
>3 hr journey to London

5. The Dawlish kick-start

6. Joining-up the strategy
Members:
Cornwall Council
Devon County Council
Plymouth City Council
Somerset County Council
Torbay Council
Heart of the South West LEP
Cornwall and Isles of Scilly LEP
“and a Stakeholder Advisory Group, open to anyone with an interest in rail”

8. 3-point plan: a great SW Peninsula Railway
Resilient and reliable
With faster journey times, and better connectivity
Sufficient capacity and comfort.

9. 128% passenger growth over 21 years
The core complaints
2.2 million people
£36 billion economy
128% passenger growth over 21 years
No major timetable revision for 40 years
Long and slow journey times with late arrivals
SW rail gets £35pc HMG spend; UK average £97pc
Only 50% right time arrivals

10. What do passengers need?
Does combining local with long-distance passengers’ needs in the far SW work well?
Are passengers’ priorities for station facilities different west of Exeter or in conurbations?
Do faster journey times matter?
What is an acceptable level of performance and reliability in the far SW?
What technology do people now expect (eg WiFi)?
What key infrastructure improvements are needed?
How can far SW needs be reconciled with those at intermediate places such as Totnes, Westbury etc.?

11.
Thank you!